Iulius Mall will have to wait

The construction of the mall in the Theatre Square was delayed for an indefinite period of time, for now. Although the hot talks around the future Iulius Mall, estimated to be built in the center of Sibiu, covered all areas of Sibiu, its building starts in 2008 the earliest.

The reason why the Iulius Mall building yard will not be started this year has to do with the fact that in 2007 Sibiu will be a European Cultural Capital. “We don’t want to have a building yard in the very heart of Sibiu in 2007. The mall has to be built either before, or after 2007”, declared the mayor of Sibiu.

As a result, the construction of the mall in the Theatre Square starts, most likely, only in 2008, due to the difficult path the documentation must go through prior to starting the works. The Regional Urbanism Plan for the Theatre Square, needed for starting such buildings, will be ready only in the following weeks. The Sibiu mall is supposed to be a copy of the one in Timisoara, with approximately 200 shops, a supermarket, a cinema and other entertainment opportunities. The total value of the investment is estimated to reach 50 million euros.

Nevertheless, protests against building the mall in the proximity of the historic center of Sibiu raises hot talks at the local level. Tens of architects signed a common protest, by which they show that a mall in the Theatre Square is result of an erroneous judgment. Additionally, opinions of Sibiu inhabitants are divided as well. Yet, the public debates organized by architects and the Sibiu administration led to no tangible results.

Traian DELEANU