Outside Eye: A non-Armenian's view

[MosJan]

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Outside Eye: A non-Armenian's view

of life in his adopted home

The face of Yerevan is changing more rapidly than at any time since independence. A construction and reconstruction boom is bathing large parts of the city center in dust and leaving residents to pick their way by foot or by car round a maze of trenches.

 

It’s an impressive display of synchronized sprucing involving what looks like hundreds of workers all intent on digging the longest, deepest hole as fast as they can.

 

Someone, somewhere must have the master plan to all this. But puzzled Yerevantsis, faced with the sudden closure of a road that was open only yesterday, are finding it hard to make any sense of their city right now.

 

The reactions fall into two camps: those relieved that someone is finally improving their capital after a decade of decay; and those who think the city is being destroyed for no good reason.

 

The grateful see some grace returning to Yerevan as the city’s museums and cultural centers – including the famed Opera House – get long overdue refurbishments. A trench was dug most of the length of the main Sayat Nova boulevard simply to lay a gas pipeline so that heating can be restored to the Opera House and its performers.

 

They look forward to promenading on smooth sidewalks being laid brick by brick inside new kerbstone frames – that themselves have been carefully placed so as to avoid damaging the trees that line the streets.

 

The ungrateful see only roadblocks diverting them from their usual routes and traffic snarl-ups caused by the current confusion. They think their city is being changed for the worse – what they mean is they have become used to slum living and don’t want to make the effort to change.

 

The Lincy Fund, multi-billionaire Kirk Kirkorian’s vehicle for getting things done here, is funding all of these public works and more besides, including road repairs across Armenia and housing construction in the earthquake zone.

 

The investment is some $172 million – a huge sum making a huge difference in a country whose population is now officially only three million and unofficially even less. The American-Armenian enjoys colossal wealth, but is careful with the way every cent is spent here – and gets results as a consequence.

 

Alongside all this philanthropy, however, is evidence of a private investment boom in property. New apartment buildings are rising fast into the skyline, the swanky North Avenue retail project is visibly taking shape, and every week seems to bring a new store or hotel or restaurant opening.

 

Yerevan already looks vastly more colorful than it did a decade ago. Five years from now it will have changed again, becoming still more modern and convenient for its citizens.

 

Not everyone is happy about this. They fear a loss of charm, of the intimacy that comes from the familiar in a capital whose stones carry generations of personal memories.

 

But this is a city with more than 2,700 years of history. It absorbs change in its stride and gains strength from it. These are the growing pains of its latest incarnation as the capital of a State – what will emerge is a more confident and attractive city.

Tony Halpin

 

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