No Final Solution Yet, The 'Circular' Park Area Must Be Recognized as Public Interest: Details

The public parks, including the 'Circular' park, should serve the community because they are public spaces. People should be able to walk and enjoy their leisure time.

This was stated by Haik Kostanyan, the spokesperson for the Mayor of Yerevan, during a press briefing with journalists at the city hall.

“The tennis courts, as well as other businesses operating in the 'Circular' park, are all doing business. Tennis is different, of course, as it is a sport and has a history. Therefore, the city hall announces the following: a space is allocated to the tennis courts based on the logic that the city hall pays special attention to both tennis and other sports,” Kostanyan noted, emphasizing that having about 1 hectare of tennis courts in a total area of 4.5 hectares disrupts the overall logic.

Journalists asked the city hall spokesperson why the municipality has not spoken with the operators in the 4th section of the 'Circular' park. The spokesperson replied that the reason for not meeting and talking with the operators yet is that there is still no final solution.

“The 4th section still needs to be recognized as public interest. Currently, the company is conducting discussions related to the project, after which it will present it to the city hall,” he said.

According to him, only a preliminary plan has been submitted, and the city hall has always stated that if there are investors wishing to implement a project for the city, the doors are open.

“The 'Green Rock Management' company is right when it says that there is nothing final. Regardless of the fact that the project needs to be presented to the city hall, ultimately, the city hall must approve whether the park will be reconstructed and renovated in this way or not. And when you ask why we haven't approached various operators, the reason is that there is still no final solution; secondly, the park area must be recognized as public interest, the company presents the project to the city hall, and when final approval is received, we will conduct public hearings,” the spokesperson emphasized.

It should be noted that the city authorities announced that they are preparing a government decision draft regarding the reconstruction of the 4th section of the 'Circular' park, from Sayat Nova Street to Nalbandyan, where they will recognize the area as public interest and begin demolishing the tennis courts. A few days ago, during an operational meeting, Tigran Avinyan reaffirmed that the tennis courts in the 'Circular' park will be demolished and the tennis club will be relocated to a more convenient place.