BISHKEK (TCA) — The Bishkek municipality has decided to repair the building of Kyrgyzstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office that was burned down during the violent change of power in April 2010. The total area of the building located in downtown Bishkek, near the Central Square, is 4,650 square meters. It is planned to strengthen the carcass of the building, repair the roof, partitions, and the internal and facade parts.
The Bishkek Mayor’s Office has announced a tender for repairs of the building. The city authorities are planning to invest 120 million soms in the reconstruction and finish it this year. The Bishkek City Council or the Mayor’s Office may be located in the renovated building.
Contest for the best project
Just one year ago, Bishkek authorities planned to completely demolish the building and to erect a business center in its place. In 2015, a competition was announced among architects for the best project to develop the area in between the streets of Kievskaya, Orozbekov, Toktogul and Panfilov.
The winner of the contest was a group of architects who suggested building a business center decorated with marble — in the same style as the neighboring buildings are decorated including Agroprom (where the Agriculture Ministry is located), the Historical Museum, and the architectural ensemble of the Central Square with an arch.
According to the project, a square should be behind the Agroprom building.
Criminal case
Looted and burned down in April 2010, black from the soot, the skeleton of the building gloomily reminded the townspeople of the terrible event for more than half year. Later, so as not to affect the appearance of the capital’s center, the facade of the building was covered by a huge banner of a commercial bank.
A criminal case was opened on the fact of looting and burning of the Prosecutor General’s Office but persons involved in this crime were not revealed, and the case was suspended.
There were rumors that during the April 2010 coup the Prosecutor General’s Office was burned intentionally. Allegedly, some interested persons did so to destroy the materials of the criminal cases brought against them and all the archives of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors did not comment on the allegation. The investigation did not give any results, and the perpetrators of this crime were never found.
Expert opinion
The Prosecutor General’s Office initially intended to restore its building. A government commission examined the burned building to find out whether it was subject to repair.
The building suffered significant damage. In accordance with regulatory requirements, cracks in bearing structures are unacceptable. Restoration and reinforcement of the building’s frame damaged by fire would not provide the required reliability to ensure seismic resistance, experts said.
Moreover, the restoration required high costs, so it was more reasonable to demolish the building and construct a new one, the Kyrgyz Research Institute of Earthquake Engineering concluded.
In August 2013, the State Agency for Architecture and Construction said that the building should be demolished, without specifying the time of demolition and the Government’s plans for this land plot.
There were suggestions to build a kindergarten or a school, or a multi-story residential building on this site. However, city planners explained that the building’s territory is surrounded by busy highways, and many other construction requirements do not allow building a social object there. They advised to build a cultural, commercial or business center instead, and did not rule out that the future building could accommodate some government department.
The future of the burnt building had been discussed repeatedly but the matter did not move from the dead point. The Mayor’s Office said it was dangerous to demolish the building, and there were no investors to construct a new building. In addition, there were some difficulties with the documents.
Last year, the Bishkek Architecture and Urban Development Department included this area in the list of places where multi-story parking should be built. This was announced during the election campaign (the Bishkek Council elections were held on December 11, 2016), when all parties promised their voters a lot.
New office
In 2010, employees of the Prosecutor General’s Office were placed in the building of the Constitutional Court and later they moved to the former library of former President Askar Akayev.
In January 2013, a new building of the Prosecutor General’s Office was opened in Bishkek. This building, originally intended for the former president and his family, found a worthy use and now began to serve the state, President Atambayev said at the opening ceremony. The resource center of the Prosecutor General’s Office was also opened to conduct videoconferencing with regional offices.
During the past seven years, there have been no investment projects to build anything instead of the burned office, though experts expected a serious struggle between investors for the right to build a new business center in the heart of the Kyrgyz capital.
