Push to Rebuild Brings Protest in Georgia's Capital

Mary Kay Judy, a New York-based architectural conservator who has been coming here for 10 years, said it may be hard for some Georgians to see the value in Tbilisi buildings that are a mere 150 years old when the country is dotted with 5th- and 6th-century churches.

"The urban heritage fabric has never been taken seriously. Everyone just kind of took it for granted," she said. But in Tbilisi, she sees "one of the most dense concentrations of historic buildings anywhere in Europe that still has its historic integrity, and that's what's being lost."

Protests over a building are unusual in a city where elections and politics are what usually bring people into the streets. But the building in question has become a symbol, the subject of graffiti campaigns, photo exhibitions and an international Internet petition.

The historic makeup of the 19th-century square on which it fronts had already been compromised by a large, modern Courtyard by Marriott hotel, and other new buildings are planned there. Elsewhere in Old Tbilisi, structures dating to before the Soviet era are being demolished, some legally, others through unclear processes.

The municipal council that approves demolition and construction permits includes working architects. "They protect their own interests," said Nino Kordzakhia, head of monitoring at the Old Tbilisi District Council, a city agency.

Vice Mayor Mamuka Akhvlediani, who chairs the council, says preservation rules are holding up economic development. While preservationists say that even undistinguished buildings are important to the urban fabric, he maintains that only those with true architectural merit should be protected -- about 500, not the current 1,700.

"So many houses in Tbilisi have historic status but not value," he said. "We can't interest private investors, because all they can do is renovate, not rebuild." Asked about the demonstrations on Freedom Square, he said, "I don't think that this is the protest of people; it's the protest of a group of art historians."

Caught in the middle are the residents of Old Tbilisi. During Soviet days, multiple families were crammed into tiny dwelling spaces. After the fall of communism, they became owners, but many are hardly in love with their properties, which often lack modern conveniences and suffer from structural problems caused by age and a 2002 earthquake.

Many now want their properties torn down and replaced with new ones. Aza Darjania, 62, said she lives in a protected building that is 183 years old and unstable. "Every night it's shaking and we're scared it's going to fall," she said. "Either they should renovate it or build something new."

Often, developers promise new apartments to residents who will let them demolish their old ones, and fierce battles arise between neighbors over whether to accept the offers.

The owner of the Freedom Square building cited weakness in the foundation and walls as the reason for demolishing it. Lasha Papashvili said it would have been possible to rehabilitate it, but he did not investigate the cost. He did, however, hire experts to assess its condition, and the council consulted their report when issuing the demolition permit.

"From an architectural point of view, there is no sense to keep this kind of building here now, today," he said, adding that the new one, which is to house "A-class office space," will look like the old one but have one additional story. He has not yet received a construction permit. Papashvili, who has contributed money to restore rural medieval sites, said more-stringent preservation laws will scare off investors.

"They will have a nice glass of wine . . . and they will go invest somewhere else," he said.

But Mariam Didebulidze, project coordinator at the Fund for Preservation of the Cultural Heritage of Georgia, suggests trying to educate them to another point of view. "We say, 'You want to build in Old Tbilisi because you like it, it's attractive and you see the potential. But if you are all allowed to come in and do everything you want to do, it will be ruined. And so you yourself, with your own hands, ruin your future.' "

"We try now not to fight with somebody," she continued, "but to say, if you preserve this in its main features, then it is a very powerful economic source. The economic dividend of conservation is that if you do it right it will bring and bring and bring."