TIRANA, Feb. 12 – The Albanian-American Development Foundation is financing the restoration and revitalization of the landmark Korça bazaar in southeastern Albania, one of the country’s most distinguished historical sites.
“The overall AADF budget for the Korça Bazaar is $1.9 million, whereas the government of Albania has allocated $3 million for additional works in area,” said the foundation which is supported by the U.S government.
This project includes the design and restoration of seven blocks of building in the heart of the Old Bazaar of Korça such as roofs, facades, lighting and signage. The AADF intervention phase for the restoration of the blocks of buildings is expected to start in April 2015 and complete in December 2015.
This is the second intervention from AADF in the city of Korca following the success of the reconstruction of the pedestrian area and creation of the BID Association in Boulevard Shen Gjergji with a total AADF investment of $1.1 million.
AADF has supported the creation of Tourism Improvement District (TID) and Business Improvement District (BID) areas in the cities of Korca, Shkodra, Berat and Kruja.
The project’s advantages in Korça include an increase in property value, better maintained and cleaner neighborhoods, increase in business revenue due to the improved image of the district, improved visitor experience in the area, while the district becomes more attractive through joint marketing and events.
The bazaar, an ensemble of trade, craft, and residential buildings with urban-architectural and artistic values that dates back to the second half of the 19th, is expected to bring a new tourist element with its key function as a market and accommodation establishment for tourists.
The local buildings will undergo restoration, with their indoor facilities being adjusted to modern infrastructure while the exterior will be preserved as close to its original architecture, local architects say.
“After restoration, this could practically become a reference point for Korça and young tourists who will come to touch and taste this,” Prime Minister Edi Rama has said in an earlier visit.
“This is not the typical bazaar we inherited from the Ottoman period, but it’s kind of other bazaar, built as a merchant street, inspired by the experience of migrants,” he added.
Deputy Prime Minister Niko Peleshi, a former Korça mayor, said the revitalization of the bazaar would have a positive impact even economically by strengthening local businesses.
In 2013, a Euro 700,000 EU-funded project rehabilitated the Korça bazaar by paving the streets and the main square and improving most the entire infrastructure (potable water, sewerage, power and telecom) and the supply and installation of a new street lighting, adding value to this quarter.
The complex of buildings is a testimony to the existence of the craftsmen and tradesmen who at that time had a deep influence on the economic and social life of the town. The total surface of the plot of the Bazaar is around 20 000 m². The total surface of 138 shops is 5 186 m2, inns 2 154 m², and surface of roads and squares 12 660 m². The Bazaar was restored between 1975 and 1988. The restoration work was undertaken to preserve the fabric and, also, the architectural elements.
