Marchers and performers surround a statue of King Menelik II as Ethiopians celebrate victory in the Battle of Adwa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 2, 2021. This day commemorates the victory of the Ethiopian army over Italian invaders in the First Italo-Ethiopian War on March 1, 1896. (Photo by J. Countess/Getty Images)
Bulldozers destroyed much of Addis Ababa's Piasa neighborhood, erasing centuries of history built by Ethiopians since Menelik II in the late 1800s. They are almost indistinguishable now.
It has been the vibrant heart of the capital for decades. Its streets were lined with artisans and merchants, and people crowded with people sipping on macchiatos and haggling for gold and silver in old Italian cafes.
Many of Piassa's buildings were classic examples of modernist architecture, which until recently was Addis Ababa's characteristic style. Then the bulldozers came.
Gates and fences were torn down and old buildings were smashed to pieces. As blue corrugated iron shrouds the wreckage, excavators load it onto red trucks and dump it, along with a large piece of the city's history, at a distant dump.
The Addis Ababa Corridor Development Project calls for wider roads, bike lanes and modern buildings.
Piassa's narrow cobbled streets and historic buildings must give way to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's ambitions to make the capital the Dubai of East Africa. Abiy intends to transform the capital into a smart, modern city that can provide a decent quality of life for its estimated 5.7 million residents.
“The plan has facilities for a growing metropolis in mind, including bike lanes, wide pedestrian walkways, better roads, parks, libraries and additional housing construction projects. The project aims to update outdated drainage systems and upgrade public networks such as electricity and internet, in order to improve the quality of life in the country,” Abren of the diaspora organization reported.
For some in Piassa, the change came too quickly and without proper warning. Some homeowners and business owners have been asked to vacate their premises, sometimes with just days' notice.
Some were told to modernize their buildings at great expense. Last month, renters at a building in Piassa were told to replace old windows with shutters with tinted glass and aluminum frames, at a cost of about $750 per window.
There are as many as 20 windows in apartment blocks where the average rent is less than $120 a month. The order was suspended after residents protested.
One of the most iconic buildings in the area, the Hagar Fikir (Addis' first theater), escaped damage. However, the historic main gate and annex, which had been used as a torture chamber by the Italian occupiers, were demolished.
“We objected, asking for a formal document conveying the decision,” said theater director Abdulkarim Jemal. “It gave us a few days of time. But they destroyed it anyway.”
In response to residents' concerns, the Ethiopian Cultural Heritage Authority said Piassa's buildings were not automatically eligible for protection due to their age. Many buildings have already been destroyed, so their heritage must be preserved in other ways.
“We have photos and videos, so we have to use these options to pass on our history to the next generation,” Jemal said.
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