Plan to dismantle Yerevan airport’s old building on agenda again

Photo by ARMENPRESS

A plan for pulling down the old building of the Zvarthnots International Airport is on the Public Council’s agenda despite a negative conclusion issued earlier by the Yerevan City Hall’s Urban Development Board.

The topic became actual again after the General Department of Civil Aviation submitted a proposal to the Council’s Committee for Urban Development.

Speaking to Tert.am, President of the Council Vazgen Manukyan said the justification in the document is not very detailed and needs a further consideration.

“What has been submitted to us says only that there is such a project, so we request a debate,” he told our correspondent.

In an article published in April, Tert.am reported that the municipality’s Urban Development Board had unanimously rejected the proposal for leveling the airport’s old building.

Armenia International Airports, which holds the rights to manage Zvartnots, confirmed later that they did not have such a plan on their agenda.

A representative of the company, whom Tert.am contacted today for comments, said the building is not under their ownership as it is considered a state property. But the source claimed that the construction is an obstacle to their development projects.

President of the Urban Development Board Hrach Poghosyan confirmed later that they had issued a negative conclusion, adding that the City Hall had also rejected a claim submitted by Eduardo Ernekyan, the owner of Armenia International Airports.

“I am hopeful the Public Council will pass a negative decision too. Let me also note that the chief architect has also rejected [the proposal],” Poghosyan said.

In further comments to Tert.am, the merited architect Sashur Kalashyan said he also expects the Public Council to reject the plan. “We’ll set up a professional team to find all the possible ways,” he told our correspondent.

The airport’s modernist-style building, launched in 1961 ,was put into operation in 1980. It was designed by the Armenian architects Arthur Tarkhanyan, Spartak Khchikyan, Levon Cherkezyan and George Shekhlyan, and a team of constructors.

As for the old building, Kalashyan described it as a historical-cultural monument which has to be taken under state protection as in all countries around the world.

A model of the building is to be showcased on the sidelines of an upcoming architectural congress in Istanbul.