Filenews 30 July 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
Time is now counting down for the daily use and enjoyment by the citizens of the largest urban park that will exist in Cyprus. The "Park of Colours", in the centre of Paphos, has already been completed and it is now only a matter of days before it will be given for use to the public of the city and province. This was confirmed by the mayor of Paphos, speaking to "F", clarifying that this will be done when the café-restaurant that has been created inside the park is awarded to an offeror to operate.
Phaedonas Phaedonos clarified that this action is a prerequisite, in order to have a continuous movement of citizens in the area and in this way to avoid risks of vandalism or theft that may be done by unscrupulous people during the period when the services of the park will not yet operate. With the huge park now virtually completed, the Municipality of Paphos is already paying a significant amount of money to a private policing company to avoid similar possibilities.
"We give €4 million from the Municipality's Fund to invest in young people. In a few weeks, the largest organized park in Cyprus will be given for use. Paphos is changing", he said characteristically.
The largest urban park in Cyprus covers a huge part of the central fabric of the city between Ellados Avenue, the streets of the shopping centre to the Mouttallos district, which includes the very well-known, to the Paphites, area of "Pembes", which was one of the most famous green spaces of the city and which in recent decades had been reduced to a source of pollution and antisocial activities.
It covers an area of 32,000 square metres, making it the largest urban park in Cyprus and the most "rich" on the island both in terms of greenery and infrastructure. Hundreds of new trees are planted in the park, while it includes square gathering areas, a playground, a cafeteria, a tennis court, a basketball court, a small football field, changing rooms, a tramway, a skateboard, a 3-6-meter climbing wall, a management and information office, an exhibition outdoor area, an aromatic-botanical garden, sanitary areas, 83 parking areas for the public and people with disabilities, service areas, a main route, and entrance gates.
The proposal for naming the park belongs to the municipal secretary of Paphos. The "Park of Colours" was selected among seven other proposals by the plenary session of the Pafos Municipal Council. Based on the rationale of the decision, the name of the park on the plot, by Charilaou Trikoupi, Athinas and Amathus streets, aims to promote the value and importance of colours in everyday life. In order for this design to begin to be implemented, after the award of the architectural competition, it was necessary for the Municipality of Paphos to start a huge cleaning project, since the site was nothing more than a great source of pollution, indolence and nuisance in the heart of Paphos.
The mayor of Paphos told "F" that during the cleaning works, tons of garbage were found and removed, as well as arbitrary shacks and trivial materials.
"This is because the area had been left to abandonment and desolation for at least the last 50 years," he said, "which posed serious risks to public health, but also a possible outbreak of fire in the heart of the city."
The cleaning and removal works of these materials, Mr. Phaedonos pointed out, were carried out in the presence of officials of the Department of Forests, in order to avoid possible reactions of circles, who often invoke the protection of greenery to disguise decades of interventions and arbitrariness in public open spaces of the city.
