Dozens of people, many of them senior citizens, protested in Bucharest's downtown University Square on Sunday evening against City Hall's real estate projects, which they claim will destroy the city's symbols.
"We don't want to passively witness the mutilation of the city's historical center and the destruction of parks, of architectural monuments which stand as a symbol, the mutilation of the Revolution Square and the representative historical boulevards of the Little Paris," said a spokeswoman of the Bucharest Initiative Group, which was one of the organizers of the protest.
Mariana Duma said that Bucharest City Hall's projects will lead to losing the "symbols of the cultural heritage and of the capital's parks," which will ultimately cause the "mutilation of the (city's) cultural identity."
The Bucharest Initiative Group was one of the organizers of the protest rally staged by dozens of people in the city's downtown on Sunday evening. Other organizers included the Civic Alliance, Civic Media, December 21 Association, Bucharest Civic Group, and a group of students from Bucharest.
The rally was designed to pressure local authorities to give up several controversial real estate projects which are widely seen as a threat to the identity of "Little Paris," the name Bucharest was referred to in the period of economic expansion it faced between the world wars.
Participants in the rally carried banners reading "The place where heroes died - a source of income for you," in reference to the city's real estate projects in Revolution Square, or "Our capital's identity, victim to your greed."
One of the protesters gathered signatures in favor of developing and forwarding a draft law suggesting that the Revolution Square, where the City Hall plans to build large office buildings, remain the same as it is now. Also, several participants in the rally handed out leaflets and T-shirts reading messages such as "What Ceausescu did not do, (General Mayor Adriean) Videanu is making true." The messages refer to communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's policy of tearing down old, historical buildings in the city and replacing them with the grey, communist blocks, a plan he did not manage to carry through till the end.
Protesters also asked to have a public talk with Videanu at City Hall with the December 21 Association who were participants of the 1989 revolution that ousted communism. The talks will focus on the real estate projects that will affect the city's historical areas.
A handful of protesters were not sure what the purpose of the rally was, as some of them said they wanted to meet with Videanu to discuss the issue of public utilities bills, while others were protesting because "there are no real Romanians left."
Participants in the rally asked that the construction works of a 13-storey block in Revolution Square, part of a wider project the City Hall has in store for the area, be stopped immediately.
City Hall's project includes the construction of two office buildings and an underground parking lot. The project would require an investment of over 200 million euros and has come under fire by parts of the media, civil society and several artists and architects as it would require the relocation of a group of monuments dedicated to the anti-communist revolution which are currently in the area.
In the same time, the monuments themselves are also a subject of dispute, as not everyone agrees on their artistic value. One of them is often called by locals "a potato on a stick."
Other projects that protesters asked to be pulled to a halt are the construction of a store near Kretzulescu Church and the construction of a 19-storey building near the Catholic St. Joseph Cathedral.
This real estate project, called the Cathedral Plaza, is aimed at creating a large office building in the vicinity of the cathedral. The plan has been widely criticized by the Roman Catholic Church, but also by parts of the media and the civil society.
The church sued both the company that will benefit from the real estate project, Millenium Building, and Bucharest City Hall, the Sector 1 mayor's office, the State Construction Inspectorate and the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.
Protesters also asked that all buildings and historic sites of the city be protected from "the development oriented to strictly commercial interests." In addition, participants in the rally want live on TV public debates on the projects, which will be attended by representatives of City Hall and civil society. The debates would be designed to "obtain citizens' approval before erecting buildings in places of national interest."
"We don't want to passively witness the mutilation of the city's historical center and the destruction of parks, of architectural monuments which stand as a symbol, the mutilation of the Revolution Square and the representative historical boulevards of the Little Paris," said a spokeswoman of the Bucharest Initiative Group, which was one of the organizers of the protest.
Mariana Duma said that Bucharest City Hall's projects will lead to losing the "symbols of the cultural heritage and of the capital's parks," which will ultimately cause the "mutilation of the (city's) cultural identity."
The Bucharest Initiative Group was one of the organizers of the protest rally staged by dozens of people in the city's downtown on Sunday evening. Other organizers included the Civic Alliance, Civic Media, December 21 Association, Bucharest Civic Group, and a group of students from Bucharest.
The rally was designed to pressure local authorities to give up several controversial real estate projects which are widely seen as a threat to the identity of "Little Paris," the name Bucharest was referred to in the period of economic expansion it faced between the world wars.
Participants in the rally carried banners reading "The place where heroes died - a source of income for you," in reference to the city's real estate projects in Revolution Square, or "Our capital's identity, victim to your greed."
One of the protesters gathered signatures in favor of developing and forwarding a draft law suggesting that the Revolution Square, where the City Hall plans to build large office buildings, remain the same as it is now. Also, several participants in the rally handed out leaflets and T-shirts reading messages such as "What Ceausescu did not do, (General Mayor Adriean) Videanu is making true." The messages refer to communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's policy of tearing down old, historical buildings in the city and replacing them with the grey, communist blocks, a plan he did not manage to carry through till the end.
Protesters also asked to have a public talk with Videanu at City Hall with the December 21 Association who were participants of the 1989 revolution that ousted communism. The talks will focus on the real estate projects that will affect the city's historical areas.
A handful of protesters were not sure what the purpose of the rally was, as some of them said they wanted to meet with Videanu to discuss the issue of public utilities bills, while others were protesting because "there are no real Romanians left."
Participants in the rally asked that the construction works of a 13-storey block in Revolution Square, part of a wider project the City Hall has in store for the area, be stopped immediately.
City Hall's project includes the construction of two office buildings and an underground parking lot. The project would require an investment of over 200 million euros and has come under fire by parts of the media, civil society and several artists and architects as it would require the relocation of a group of monuments dedicated to the anti-communist revolution which are currently in the area.
In the same time, the monuments themselves are also a subject of dispute, as not everyone agrees on their artistic value. One of them is often called by locals "a potato on a stick."
Other projects that protesters asked to be pulled to a halt are the construction of a store near Kretzulescu Church and the construction of a 19-storey building near the Catholic St. Joseph Cathedral.
This real estate project, called the Cathedral Plaza, is aimed at creating a large office building in the vicinity of the cathedral. The plan has been widely criticized by the Roman Catholic Church, but also by parts of the media and the civil society.
The church sued both the company that will benefit from the real estate project, Millenium Building, and Bucharest City Hall, the Sector 1 mayor's office, the State Construction Inspectorate and the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.
Protesters also asked that all buildings and historic sites of the city be protected from "the development oriented to strictly commercial interests." In addition, participants in the rally want live on TV public debates on the projects, which will be attended by representatives of City Hall and civil society. The debates would be designed to "obtain citizens' approval before erecting buildings in places of national interest."
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