1940s Building Set to Be Torn Down in Gemmayzeh

A nearly 70-year old building in Gemmayzeh is set to be torn down later this month.

Beirut.com contacted the Association for the Protection of Lebanese Heritage who called this a “hopeless case” when it comes to the possibility that the building could be saved because the owner of the building already sold the property to a development company and the Culture Ministry doesn’t consider it a heritage site.

The last remaining business inside the structure is Olympic Gym. The owner, Bshara Abboud, told Beirut.com, “this is an old, ugly concrete building and the owners are active members in preserving Gemmayzeh’s heritage so they know if this building is worth saving or not.”

Whether it’s worth saving or not, I think, is totally up for debate. Beirut.com is publishing and holding on to this picture as proof this building – estimated to have been built sometime between 1940 and 1945, possibly having lived through the French mandate and Lebanon’s subsequent independence, and certainly having lived through the Golden Era of the 1960s and the country’s Civil War – once existed in a glorious, beautiful way.

If you’re interested in taking one last look at this concrete piece of history, Fern is holding an event at Olympic Gym on July 4 to celebrate US Independence Day. Go check it out before it’s gone for good.