Another Historical Building Demolished in Yerevan

Recently, we have all primarily focused on various political developments in our country, protests, economic analyses, weather, and other assorted topics. It turns out that a few days ago, yet another historically significant building was demolished in Yerevan. Artak Ghulyan published photos on his Facebook page. The building was located between Shahumyan Square and the Shirak Hotel, at 13 Khorenatsi Street. From the discussions on Facebook, we have learned that the demolished building was formerly the structure of Higher Education and Secondary Vocational Education. According to user comments, the building was partially demolished 15 years ago, but the façade had been preserved at the government's request. Now, this is being torn down.

The Yerevan Municipality has provided clarification on what will happen at the site of the demolished building. The full clarification is presented below. We also present images of the former building and the new construction being erected in its place.

“Clarification: The façade of the building at 13 Khorenatsi Street will be restored with a new approach.

The building adjacent to the ‘Shirake’ hotel at 13 Khorenatsi Street was demolished back in 2004, at which time only the façade was preserved. Initially, after the building was privatized in 2004, the owners did not intend to maintain the façade in their submitted projects. The structure is not a monument and is also not included in the list of architecturally valuable façades in Yerevan.

In 2017, the plot was acquired by ‘Armswiss Properties’ LLC, which applied to the Yerevan Municipality for permission to demolish the partially collapsed façade and to construct a business center with underground floors in its place. Currently, the demolition work is being carried out in accordance with the project and based on the demolition permit granted on 08.02.2019. By the way, the business center's sketch proposal submitted by the company includes the restoration of the subject façade with a new approach, becoming an integral part of the complex's interior. It should be noted that over the decades, due to precipitation, the façade of the building has deteriorated significantly.”

Attached are the sketch variations of the business center.