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The pilot operation |
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The Pilot Operation in Lefkara was completed this month. It comprised the rehabilitation of 20 facades, the restoration and construction of stone pavements, the improvement of the electrical network and signage. The works carried out literally transformed that part of the main commercial street of Lefkara, which had suffered defacement through time and human intervention.
The preparation of the project was assigned to a private architect’s office, following the procedure of tenders. The project was to be prepared following the RehabiMed Method for the rehabilitation of buildings, based on previous research and on detailed and accurate drawings of the existing facades.
Photographic documentation had been of a great help in the research. In the absence of direct evidence, the careful observation of the traditional elements in buildings of similar style visited all over the village was proved very useful for the preparation of the project. Oral documentation by the owners and other inhabitants gave useful information regarding lost elements. In some cases it was the owners themselves who had made the alterations and they had still a good memory of the previous situation.
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The next step was the assignment of the private contractor who would carry out the works. It happened that the winning tenderer was a local contractor, who had a good experience in the rehabilitation of traditional buildings in Lefkara and the nearby villages.
The works began on July. The first action was the removal of the recent additions and alterations that distorted the traditional features of the facades, such as cement renderings, aluminium doors and windows, unbecoming trade signs and unfitting decorative stone dressings. Damaged masonry was repaired and pointed, openings were restored to their original size and form, or as close to it as the circumstances allowed.
New lime renderings were applied to the walls previously covered with cement renderings, whilst the original gypsum renderings of some facades were preserved and repaired where necessary. Decrepit gypsum renderings had to be replaced with new ones.
Special care was taken of the original doors and iron works that were still in place. They were carefully repaired and maintained, since it was important to conserve all the original elements that could be repaired.
Great pains were taken regarding the colours. The various shades of the traditional blue, once the pre eminent feature of Lefkara, are still obvious in abandoned houses which escaped modern interventions. The blue mineral powder, locally called loulaki, was mixed in water and lime and applied either directly on the stone walls or over a smooth gypsum rendering, in the case of the houses built in the first decades of the 20th century.
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Both techniques were applied on the different facades, according to their style, evidence found in situ or after direct information by the owners themselves, who helped their parents in the annual repainting when they were children. The personal preferences of the owners regarding the shade of loulaki were taken also into consideration on the various meetings held with them during the works. Ochre, reddish, pink and white were also used, thus bringing back the variety in colours and shades that prevailed in Lefkara not very long ago.
The Pilot Operation works also included stone pavements. Part of the old stone-paved street was revealed under a thick layer of asphalt, requiring a careful repair and completion with new pavement made according to the traditional techniques. The Mayor of Lefkara was invited to observe by himself the difference between the old pavements and the actual street level, caused by the successive layers of asphalt. ‘When we get the money we shall seriously consider restoring the street to its original level and form’, declared the Mayor.
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The tidying up of the external electricity wires was carried out by the Electricity Authority. It is a provisory measure, since the wires are to be concealed in the tubes placed within the walls during the rehabilitation works, as soon as the pending technical procedures are made by the Electricity Authority.
The project was completed with new, more discreet shop signs, urban furniture and a large panel with photos and texts explaining the project, placed in the square in front of the church.
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The Pilot Operation was inaugurated on the 10th of February, during an event organised by the Department of Antiquities. It was attended by the Minister of Communications and Works, the Minister of Justice who was a mayor of Lefkara when the project started, local deputies, ambassadors, the representative of the European Union Delegation in Cyprus, various officials, the Municipal Council and the Mayor of Lefkara and a big number of people. The media covered the event with articles on newspapers and revues and on television programs. The press welcomed the project with titles like ‘Lefkara is recovering its traditional face’, ‘European Union funds rehabilitation works in Lefkara’, ‘The RehabiMed Project contributes to the rehabilitation of traditional architecture’ and ‘Rescue operation of old architecture’, reflecting the general spirit of approval regarding the project. The first step towards this approval was made last year on the same month, during the Workshop on the Heritage organised by the Department of Antiquities in the context of the RehabiMed activities of awareness and implication of the people in the project. In this Workshop, the people of Lefkara spoke and analysed themselves the opportunities, strengths and weaknesses of their town and its potential of development in relation with the heritage.
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