Over 30 houses in Addis to be listed as historical heritages

The Addis Ababa Cultural and Tourism Bureau which is assessing the city to register historical houses, so far registered over 30 old houses which are expected to be listed as historical heritages of the city.
The houses which were used by government officials during Haileselassie and Meneilk II time, heroes and notable personalities in various field are part of the heritages that have to be registered yet.
The bureau so far registered 440 old houses in the heritage list in Addis Ababa.
Mekbeb Gerbermariam, Heritage expert at the bureau told capital that the aim of the registration is to save the place from demolition and to preserve historical places.
“Addis Ababa is changing every time, construction and demolition are part of the city’s day to day activity. Sadly some historical house like the Ras Abebe Aregay house and others were demolished due to negligence,’’ the expert said.
“So now to save the houses from further damage or demolition we assign people to register the old houses and we will soon list tem in our book of heritages,’’ he added.
“Historic sites are in private hands and owners can do whatever they like with them, we must do something serious to stop it and to do that we must have a powerful conservation laws.’’
Mekbeb told Capital that Buffet de la Gare restaurant will not be demolished and it is not part of the Eagle Hills project, a private Abu Dhabi-based property developer project.
“Rumors were spreading in the city that the old restaurant will be demolished soon, it is false and we told the concerned body that the house is listed in the heritage sites and it will not be demolished,’’ Mekbeb added.
The Eagle Hills project which is located around the Ethio-Djibouti Railway will have 4,000 residences once complete, and will also have commercial, hospitality, retail and leisure facilities set around a large park, with a railway line running around its northern edge.