Demolition of the General Staff complex can legally begin on November 22, the "Yugoslavia" hotel is already being demolished, the Belgrade Fair is about to be demolished, the Old Sava bridge is planned, the bus station has been demolished, it is not known exactly what will remain of the Old Post office building on the Sava square and the railway station, Šećerana is under question, city villas on Neimar and Slavija no longer exist...
We are living in the years of the destruction of Belgrade.
This year will be recorded in the history of Belgrade as the year of demolition. Next too.
It is being demolished by the Serbian and city authorities in favor of investors to turn it into something that will not be Belgrade.
General Staff
On May 15, Goran Vesić, as Minister of Construction, signed a contract on behalf of the Government of Serbia with the company "Affinity Global Development", which belongs to the family of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. on the corner of Kneza Miloša and Nemanjina streets". Vesić then said that this land was not sold but leased for 99 years, and the media established that it was actually given without compensation.
It's terrible that The Serbian Government ceded part of Belgrade to the Americans which were bombed by NATO planes in 1999.
"That building also has historical significance," Kushner himself said this spring to the New York Post. "Her transformation from a laughing stock to a symbol that will create jobs and bring revenue to the city is something that is exciting to be a part of." It will be a luxury hotel with business space and more than 1500 apartments.
The New York Times then quoted Trump's close aide and former Balkan envoy Richard Grenell as saying it would be "an incredible world-class, five-star mixed-use luxury project."
The Serbian government made the decision to strip the General Staff complex of its status as a cultural property, and thereby remove the obstacle that prevented it from being demolished, regardless of the fact that SANA, international and domestic professional organizations, architects, and the public were expressly against it.
Hotel "Yugoslavia"
According to the same model the demolition of the "Yugoslavia" hotel also began on Friday, November 15, while everyone was thinking only of those who died in Novi Sad. "Millennium Team", which as the only bidder bought it in March, will build a residential complex with an office tower and a hotel from the luxury chain "Ritz-Carlton".
In the press release, they announced that they will "turn the space of the old hotel into a prestigious destination." The complex will include a luxury hotel with 200 rooms and two towers - a 42-story residential tower and a 34-story office tower, none of which will exceed 150 meters in height."
The "Millennium Team" assessed that it "contributes to the development of Belgrade, following the highest standards of the construction industry and respecting all legal and urban regulations of the City of Belgrade."
The Museum of the City of Belgrade will keep the letters of the inscription "Hotel Yugoslavia", it received them as a gift from the "Millennium Team" before it started demolishing the building. It was said on the networks that it was a hypocritical gift.
Old Sava bridge
Old Sava bridge Citizen activists have been defending it from the demolitionists day and night for two weeks. The city's public company has removed part of the tramway installations, and cars are still crossing it even though traffic has been banned since November 1.
According to President Vučić's announcement, the Old Sava bridge will be moved two kilometers away, in order to free up space for another one. It is not known how it will be carried out or how much it will cost. It is only known that the "Millennium Team" got the job for the new one.
Activists of the initiative "The bridge remains" clearly say - modernization must not mean the destruction of tradition. The symbol of Belgrade deserves to survive, as does the voice of the citizens who defend it.
Old post office
Belgrade on the Water, which became the owner of the old Post Office building in Savska Street, received the location conditions for "shape reconstruction according to the original design of the Post Office building, construction and conversion into a Cultural Center". The new facility will be designed as a series of spaces for a "children's museum, galleries, art workshops, schools of cultural and artistic disciplines, bookstores, etc."
As stated, the form of the building and the facade were "reconstructed from the original projects available in the archives, and the parts that did not exist in the archives were designed based on photographs of the original building."
Belgraders these days go around the city and take photos of it, as a souvenir.
