Save Cişmigiu!

What's this all about? Palatul Universul (1926-1930), the old headquarters of the Universul Journal at Ion Brezoianu Street, was sold last year to an investor group that is planning to build a complex of three buildings of 8, 10 ans 12 storeys, in a protected area behind Cismigiu Park. I quote and translate from the PRO URBE Salvaţi Cişmigiul Campaig blog, trusting the source: "Friday, at 1pm, Bucharest City Hall General Council is going to discuss the Cişmigiu-Brezoianu Plan, that includes building blocks of 42 meters in a 16-meters proyected area. The plan is supported by mistaken legal agreements and mathematical calculus, and without a previous public hearing. Ministry of Culture has asked the City Hall to stop the project" I won't be able to go to that meeting, although I would like to.

More information on PRO URBE Campaigns at their web. I wonder what happened after all with Parcul cu Platani... I don't know for sure, must check on that place I never heard of, but I suspect it couldn't be saved.

This is not the first Salvati Cişmigiul posters I see around, there's been other interesting ideas on the area, and I'm sure I know very little on this matters. For example, there's an old café in the middle of the pond (the city was taken during winter, when the pond has no wattter ans is used half as a skating rink, and the other half as a walking path). Apparently, that part of the park is private property, and I heard they were planning to build a several-storeys complex there... Fortunately, rumours stopped, so far. I suspect also that there's something happening with the building I live at, as the City Mayor visited it tduring local elections, and the Transport Ministry also came to talk with the neighbours during Parliamentary elections in november. Yeah, with my lovely harmless, and powerless pensioneers. As with Friday's meeting, those days I couldn't make it so iI don't know what the story was about. However, although my building is not historical, not pretty, not a worthy-to-protect one, I'm not very confident of the reason of that politicians approaching so close, so nicely (so populist-like?) a very unespecial block, inhabited by common people.

Some photos of Tipografia Universul... By the way, the building is already 3 storeys higher than the rest of mid-Century buildings that remain standing at Strada Ion Brezoianu... If your start making a little higher buildings decade by decade you don't notice, and suddenly, you have a 10-storey wall surrounding you...