City center overhaul soon to start
A plan to revamp the center of Athens, where crime and squalor have become rife over the last few years, by creating new public spaces and overhauling some of the existing ones will begin in about two weeks, Kathimerini learned yesterday. As announced in February, the Environment Ministry and the City of Athens have agreed to make a number of architectural and urban landscaping interventions in the heart of the capital in a bid to bring back many residents of the city who have been scared off by the rise of drug-related crime and prostitution on the streets of Athens. The first step in this process will be the demolition of a building next to the National Theater that the City of Athens recently purchased from the Seamen’s Pension Fund (NAT) and the creation of a square in its place. The new public space will cover 1,300 square meters and will be at the junction of Menandrou, Veranzerou and Xouthou streets. «The demolition of the building and the removal of the rubble is a difficult project, which will take about 40 days to complete,» town planner Tasia Lagoudaki, who is advising the municipality on the scheme, told Kathimerini. «It is likely that we will have to use dynamite to demolish the building’s interior.» According to the time frame that has been drawn up by authorities, the project will then lead to Xouthou Street being pedestrianized by winter next year. At this point, grass and trees will be planted in the new square, so that it will open to the public by spring. Lagoudaki ruled out the possibility that an underground parking garage would be built below the square. An architectural competition to come up with ideas for revamping nearby Theatrou Square is due to end on September 30, so the process of improving this public space can also begin. Authorities are considering locating the headquarters of the soon-to-be-created Attica Regional Authority on the square as a way of ensuring that it is not abandoned and taken over once again by petty criminals. Officials also intend to improve the lighting in the area after the success of such a scheme in nearby Gazi.
