Old GSP: a missed opportunity for Nicosia?

A project conceived after a public referendum as a green space for Nicosia is finally coming to life, but concerns over connectivity and commercialisation remainMore than 25 years after the stadium closed and 15 years after plans were drawn up for its redevelopment, the broad concrete terraces and stark steelwork of the old GSP stand like a railway terminus in the middle of Nicosia. Inside a glass prism, inelegantly jutting out onto Evagorou street, a lone attendant on the graveyard shift smokes a cigarette, guarding an empty site which has been pledged to become a ‘thriving city quarter’. The public referendum allowed approximately 1,500 square metres for commercial use as a compromise between recreation and economic activity (Christos Theodorides) Nicosia municipality has now awarded the site’s empty commercial units to the sole applicant in the tender, PHC. The company is a titan of the food and beverage industry whose franchises in Cyprus include Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, Wagamama, Caffe Nero and PAUL. Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos heralded PHC’s takeover as a guarantee that the site becomes “a real destination in Nicosia that people will be drawn to as a renewed commercial centre”. The concession will initially run for the next decade, with extensions potentially taking it to a maximum of 25 years. The old stadium’s future was decided in an unusual manner for Cyprus, with former mayor Eleni Mavrou putting the question of its redevelopment to a public referendum. The result indicated a preference for the site to be turned into a public green space, whilst accepting a limited number of shops to provide for the project’s economic base. Yannis Kizis, who led the architectural team that won the competition for the redevelopment, acknowledged that what residents chiefly wanted was “greenery, a park, a lung for the city”. The referendum consequently allowed approximately 1,500 square metres for commercial use as a compromise between recreation and economic activity. Kizis defended his rendering as an attempt to resolve a basic contradiction in the brief. “When you are asked to include 1,500 square metres for commercial uses, it becomes a building problem. But at the same time, you are asked for a park and a plaza.” Part of the architectural tender called for creating slopes and an ‘inward looking’ amphitheatre (Christos Theodorides) The design incorporated elements intended to recall the character of the former stadium, including its iconic old clock which adorned the old arena, while raising parts of the perimeter to create slopes and an “inward looking” amphitheatre. One aspect of the original concept was never implemented for the architects had proposed two bridges connecting the GSP square with the terrace of the nearby national theatre (Thoc), but Kizis said the municipality wish to treat the theatre and plaza as separate entities. The regeneration scheme was intended to place old GSP within a larger pedestrian-friendly area of central Nicosia, alongside the new museum, municipal gardens, sections of the old moat, Eleftheria square, Makarios avenue and Stasikratous street. In practice, however, GSP remains physically dislocated from much of this surrounding network. Fencing around the site has contributed to a sense of the park operating as a detached island rather than as an extension of the public realm. George Sotiropoulos, co-founder of the Organisation for Positive Urbanism (OPU), told the Cyprus Mail that the lack of connectivity represented “a huge waste of potential”. He questioned why pedestrians cannot simply cross Evagorou street, while also criticising the continued presence of on-street parking around the site despite the substantial underground car park. “Accessing the site is admittedly difficult and inconvenient for many,” he said. PHC which won the tender holds Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, Wagamama, Caffe Nero and PAUL franchises (Christos Theodorides) The project has also attracted criticism over the amount of exposed concrete, including the blocks forming the amphitheatre. Kizis rejected the idea that the material itself represents an issue and compared his design to that of the Eiffel Tower in Paris as a structure once decried before becoming a defining symbol of the city. The architects’ position is that the landscape will change substantially as the trees and pergola mature, with the latter expected to take “three to five years to be fully covered”. “The project is a living organism. It needs patience,” Kizis stressed. However, the referendum established a clear public desire for an open green space, and the result has been criticised as being neither a conventional city square nor even as a traditional park. Sotiropoulos said there was “no clear vision for the space” and questioned whether sufficient thought had been given to what the surrounding community requires. “If the public was initially consulted on the vision for what GSP would be, why not ask the public again about the types of businesses we actually need?” he questioned. The municipality’s original concept envisaged cafes, restaurants and shops operating within the park, alongside a citizen service centre intended to replace that which was previously located on Makarios avenue. Residents have also called for a pharmacy and an express supermarket to serve people living and working within the walled city. “There is no real supermarket in town, and I must go way out to go to a pharmacy. I really don’t feel we need another Caffe Nero, to be frank,” said local resident Stella Dimou. The decision to place all units under one concession has its roots in earlier concerns over how commercial space in public regeneration projects should be managed. Local business owners had raised concerns about the structure of the GSP tender, which originally required bidders to form consortiums and submit an offer covering all available spaces rather than allowing individual bids for separate units. They argued that the arrangement could restrict competition by making it harder for smaller operators to participate. The municipality acknowledged at the time that the structure could indeed result in fewer bids but stressed that separate tenders for seven unrelated tenants created their own risks. The municipality’s initial intention had been to allow both consortium bids and individual offers, however a municipal source informed the Cyprus Mail that the treasury considered that approach problematic, with the consortium model subsequently retained. Businesses that could not independently take on all the spaces could theoretically participate through a consortium, but this still required a substantially larger commitment than bidding for one individual unit. Such concerns were indeed vindicated when the tender eventually attracted just one bid: PHC. The same municipal source explained that difficulties encountered with more fragmented tendering arrangements in the old moat after the Eleftheria square project was completed contributed to the decision to seek a longer-term agreement. Caffe Nero is now situated there. Understandable though such a position may be, this does not nullify the question as to whether a public space designed around community use should have its commercial identity determined by a single large concessionaire. Speaking to the Cyprus Mail on the matter of Makarios Avenue, Prountzos himself pointed to “the authenticity of shops” as one of the main factors necessary to attract businesses and customers back to the city centre. Old GSP, meanwhile, is set to be anchored by established international franchises that already dominate vast swathes of Nicosia. The arrangement could give the site immediate access to recognisable brands and the customer base required to generate regular footfall. But it also means that a project originally conceived following a public demand for a green civic space will enter its commercial life with much of its identity already determined. The financial crisis had previously frozen the redevelopment, which was originally budgeted at about €55 million. Kizis credited former Nicosia mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis with ensuring the project survived, including by removing three proposed basement levels. The decision eliminated space for around 1,000 additional cars while also addressing a technical problem beneath the site. Groundwater was found at 6.5 metres rather than the 10 metres initially assumed, with the nearby Pedieos river contributing to the conditions encountered during construction. “If we had gone any deeper, the cost would have skyrocketed,” Kizis said. The completed underground car park now has around 554 spaces. Parking at the site costs €2 for up to one hour, €3 for up to three hours, €4 for up to five hours, €5 for up to seven hours and €6 for up to 10 hours. Comparable municipal car parks in central Nicosia charge slightly less for five and seven-hour stays, at €3.50 and €4.50 respectively. Dimou herself questioned the logic of maintaining on-street parking around a site with hundreds of underground spaces. The redevelopment has cost approximately €27 million, with 60 per cent funded through the EU’s Thalia cohesion programme and the remaining 40 per cent covered by the state and municipality. Kizis has insisted that the architects have completed their part and that the project’s success will ultimately depend on how the public adopts it. For Sotiropoulos, the concern is less about any individual establishment than what the decision says about the direction of urban planning in Nicosia. “The shopfronts would have been perfect for pop-up venues, for galleries, but again there just seems to be no clear vision for our city. What kind of precedent does this set for so many other vacant places in town? Are they all to be swallowed up by chains?”