TIRANA, Dec. 8 – Plans by the former center right government six years ago to demolish the pyramid building in Tirana, one of the communism era landmarks in Tirana, to pave the way for the construction of a new Parliament building six years ago, have been officially dropped.
The center-left government has decided to turn the Pyramid into a multidisciplinary center for social, art, cultural and technology events, shifting its administration from the culture ministry to the Tirana Municipality run by Socialist Mayor Erion Veliaj.
During the past two decades, the Pyramid building in Tirana’s central boulevard has served as an international cultural centres and home to private businesses including coffee bars and a private TV.
In the past few years, it degraded and only underwent a provisional restoration in mid-2015.
“The Pyramid” , a former mausoleum of Stalinist ex-dictator Enver Hoxha, was built in 1988 to commemorate Hoxha’s 80th birthday, three years after his death.
Plans to build a new Parliament were hampered by the project’s huge financial costs and protests to keep the pyramid intact as a symbol of communism.
