Rehabilitation of the street segment between Al. Pushkin and bd. Mitropolit Banulescu-Bodoni, part of the 31 August 1989 street modernization project, is back on the public agenda of Chisinau City Hall and the Ministry of Culture. The two institutions accuse each other of bottlenecks and delays, with the center of the controversy being the preservation of the historic cobblestones discovered during the street rehabilitation works, IPN reports.
In a video message, Deputy Mayor Ilie Ceban says that the section of paving was not rehabilitated not because of lack of action by the City Hall, but because of “bureaucratic decisions and contradictory interventions” by the central authorities. He claims that although the archaeologists issued a certificate allowing the work to continue, the Ministry of Culture blocked the work, calling for the preservation “in situ” of the cobblestone, i.e. its integration into an urban planning project to preserve its authenticity and link with its place of origin. The local authorities, on the other hand, consider this approach to be unjustified, explaining that the paving “has no authentic archaeological value” and that preserving it “in situ” would affect the functionality of the project, including the creation of cycle paths.
Deputy Mayor Ceban accuses the ministry of rejecting alternative solutions proposed by the municipality, such as the symbolic exposure of a portion of the cobblestone or the partial integration of the stone into the new project.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Culture insists it acted in strict compliance with the law. State Secretary Vladimir Vornic told IPN that the National Archaeological Agency had issued the certificate of archaeological discharge as early as April 2023, accompanied by a technical-scientific report explicitly recommending the conservation, restoration and enhancement of the limestone.
According to the Secretary of State, the necessary documentation from the municipality was submitted with significant delays. “The project sketch was only submitted to the National Council on Historic Monuments (CNMI) on March 1, 2024, and was favorably endorsed by the CNMI on March 7, 2024. The execution project was submitted to the Ministry of Culture for approval only on February 26, 2025, and was approved by the CNMI at its meeting on March 14, 2025,” Vladimir Vornic said.
August 31, 1989 Street underwent capital repairs in early April 2022 and was fully reopened to traffic by the end of 2023, with the exception of the section between Alexandr Pushkin and Mitropolit Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni streets. During the works, in March 2023, an old cobblestone dating back to the 19th century was discovered. The discovery aroused the interest of the authorities and heritage specialists, leading to the temporary halt of the works for evaluation and historical documentation.
