New beltway threatens a Minsk park
According to the capital construction department at the Pershamajski district committee, the park would simply be beautified. But the residents from the nearby streets, led by Viktar Talmacou, do not believe in what the officials are saying. The mistrust of the public is caused by the plans of the Minsk City Hall to construct the third ring road through the park.
“The Sevastopol Park is the lungs of our community. The architecture and city development committee has not allowed for the past seven years planting new trees there. They are only cutting the broken trees. Therefore, they are preparing the park for being killed when they put a new road. The idea behind the road is to free the space for commercial development projects,” Viktar Talmacou says.
The dispute over the fate of the park has been off and on numerously over the past several years. Every time the reasons for the residents to start defending their favorite park would be different.
Some ten years back, an unknown religious group wanted to build a church and a refuge for homeless. Three years ago, some construction was already in progress. But, it eventually stalled after several private houses were ruined.
Alena Aksiutcyk, the woman in charge of capital construction in the district, says she herself grew up near the Sevastopol Park. But her childhood memories about it remained gloomy. She says she remembers it being dirty and full with drunkards.
Therefore, she sees nothing wrong in making the park look better. Moreover, it has never been officially marked as a park.
“This is simply a green zone of trees. According to the project document, developed by Minskgrada, this territory will become a park. Instead of old and sick trees, they would plant young ones.
They will build rest sites and a short roller route as well as running tracks. In accordance with our request, they have designed mini-football and basketball pitches as well as the locations to walk dogs. That’s it!” she told our radio.
In respond to our questions about the planned ring-road construction, she directed us to Elvira Georgieva, the chief architect of the park’s reconstruction. Gerogieva tried to use simple words and explain what the changes there are all about.
“There will be 70 hectares of green plantations plus 9 hectares for the future third ring road, which will perhaps be constructed in 20 or 30 years. Another 7 hectares will be left for a public garden near Slavinskaja Street,” Georgieva said.
Tacciana Grecyna, the chief of landscape design committee at the Minsk City Hall, failed to explain either what awaits the Sevastopol Park.
“Of course, we would not want to have new streets running through green zones. But, they will have to go there, because this way we will not need to ruin many houses.
Initially, the plan envisages the construction of a boulevard for pedestrians. The road is planned only in the long-term perspective,” Grecyna told our radio.
Every official we talked to keeps saying about the road in the long-term perspective. They would even suggest that by the time the road is to be constructed, new technologies to allow leaving the park intact would have emerged.
For example, the road could be put in an underground tunnel. But Viktar Talmacou and his supporters have little hopes for new technologies and keep writing letters to the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Office of the President to protest the plan already now.
Photo by http://sch73minsk.edu.by
