In the Rmeil area of Achrafieh, citizen and civil activist Pascal Achkar stands in front of a number of heritage buildings destroyed by the Beirut Port explosion on August 4.
She points with her finger saying, "Here my family's old house is no longer habitable, and here is near it. Our neighbors' heritage building was completely destroyed on the heads of its owners, who pulled out lifeless bodies from under its rubble."
Pascal tells Al-Jazeera Net the story of these two buildings that became unlivable, dating back 100 years, with their high ceilings and antique wooden balconies "whose heritage value is invaluable in the memory of our fathers and grandfathers."
She says, "We lost in the explosion of the port what we did not expect, in souls and stones, and this region lost the charm of its heritage buildings, which have become in ruins or a structure threatened with collapse," and she asks condemning: Will the spirits return, and who can replace the assassination of our historical heritage?
Heavy losses
The Beirut explosion destroyed hundreds of heritage buildings in Beirut, which amounted to about 640 historical buildings, and 60 of them are at risk of complete collapse, and they are among at least 8,000 buildings damaged by the explosion, according to figures from the Antiquities Directorate of the Lebanese Ministry of Culture.
These heritage buildings, which are dwellings, museums, art halls, and religious sites, are mostly located in the historical neighborhoods such as Gemmayzah, Achrafieh, Tabriz, Mar Mikhael and Karantina, and in Zuqaq Al-Blat and Mina Al-Hosn, and are built back to the Ottoman era and the French mandate and are of a modern architectural heritage.
Although the Antiquities Directorate estimated the total initial cost of repair and restoration work for these buildings at no less than 300 million US dollars, the head of the Beirut Engineers Syndicate, Jad Tabet, estimates that the real financial value of its cost is three times the declared amount, meaning at least 900 million US dollars. "
Restoration attempts
Tabet told Al-Jazeera Net, "The comprehensive surveys show that these buildings have been damaged in their structure, and starting from Tuesday, August 18, the Beirut municipality will begin to provide real estate numbers about ancient buildings, in order to conduct a preliminary study to support them, because restoring ancient buildings may take a long time." And, in the first stage, it needs quick reinforcement before the onset of winter, so that it does not become in a more dangerous phase.
And restoration cannot happen randomly and quickly, because it requires careful technical study and huge financial support, according to Tabet, who added, “According to the value of external financing allocated for restoration and construction, it is possible to bet on Beirut’s return to its former state, especially since people are in a difficult economic situation and the state is bankrupt. If Lebanon does not obtain external funding, it will not be able to do anything to save its heritage buildings. "
The horror of the catastrophe of the explosion that befell Beirut's heritage buildings is evident in the streets of Gemmayze and its surroundings, which were similar in charm to the old European neighborhoods. On a tour along its rectangular extension, the effects of damage and destruction to its ancient stone buildings are revealed, on the ceilings, stained crystal glass, arches, wooden windows and ornate balcony railings.
The destruction of the heritage
At the stairs of Saint Nicolas and ascending, Beirut’s heritage buildings are visible, as if they had become with or without deformed roofs, while the red bricks (floors) of some of these buildings turned into flying stones. Upon reaching the heritage neighborhood of Sursock, the destruction of old houses and giant wooden gates appears.
Inside the Sursock Museum, which was built by his aristocratic family in 1912, before turning into a museum in 1961, and then returning to open its doors in 2015 after eight years of restoration, a phrase was written on one of its walls that tell stories of his artworks, pieces and sculptures, "pastel or glamor of life."
However, the "glamor" of this place has diminished after it was cleared of all the artistic contents, and its corners turned into a space for filling and shattered glass.
In the "white" Sursock courtyard, the director of the celebration sits, Zeina Arida, exhausted from witnessing the destruction. She told Al-Jazeera Net, "Moments before the sound of the terrible explosion, I was with three colleagues in the underground library in the museum. We felt that something strange was happening. They did not care at first, then we took cover in a place without windows so that they would not fall on us, so we were saved."
After the museum administration removed about 150 artifacts, no less than 25 were damaged, and placed them in bunkers, the force of the blast had smashed underground iron gates, 16 meters deep, and no wooden door remained intact.
Zeina regrets, saying, "We could not estimate the size of our financial loss in the museum, as we have returned to point zero and it needs millions of dollars after its restoration cost more than 16 million dollars, and there are irreparable damages, while the priority is to strengthen it and repair its windows before winter."
Loss of heritage and society
On the other hand, it seems that the urban planner and university professor at the Faculty of Arts and Architecture at the Lebanese University, Misbah Ragheb, seeks to spread the spirit of optimism, despite his awareness of the extent of the "cultural loss" and heritage that Beirut has suffered.
He believes that the youth reaction, including engineers, architects and civic groups, revealed an exceptional concern for culture and ancient buildings, and they all went to survey and lift the damage, in preparation for future restoration operations. The major fear, according to Ragheb, is that everything that is ruined will not be returned to what it was "based on our experience in Lebanon."
He tells Al-Jazeera Net, "The loss of life left by the Beirut explosion also left a large potential loss in the social fabric of the city. It has hit ancient buildings, some of which live in old tenants, while some landlords are eager to demolish them to rebuild them and evacuate them from the tenants."
The biggest challenge to saving heritage buildings in Beirut comes after moving from the stage of developing studies to the stage of implementation, which may face obstruction, as was the case in Lebanon, from real estate and political forces that prioritize their personal accounts above anything, according to Ragheb.
He added, "There are several types of obstruction that may face the restoration of heritage buildings, such as interventions by owners and politicians to impose amendments on maps, to restore illegal conditions, or to some monarchs declaring their unwillingness to restore them."
As for what must happen to preserve the heritage and historical value of Beirut, according to Ragheb, it is the development of an implementation plan based on the Civil Planning Law, with official decrees to be issued based on it, to implement it by force of law.
The question is, how long does "Heritage Beirut" take to be restored?
Ragheb answers, "The issue of restoration is related to the aforementioned and other obstacles, as well as primarily the funding that will be allocated to them. In Lebanon, studies are often given a period of months, but it takes many years, as happened in the cultural heritage project in Tripoli, in the north of the country."
Currently, there are several engineering studies related to heritage buildings that are being worked on by different groups, and there are endeavors to unify efforts, and multiple proposals, including dividing the heritage areas in Beirut into squares, with each piece receiving foreign funding for its rehabilitation and restoration, in case the aid flows in. External.
So, what did Beirut lose, which for decades represented the "cultural fortress" of the Arab world?
Zeina Arida considers that Beirut, which was the kiss of culture and heritage to Arab writers and artists, "lost everything after this explosion, which was more like targeting its history."
In order for it to return to what it was, "we need a real change in the system, and this is what we do not expect in light of insecurity, and we may restore our heritage and destroy it again, at a time when the Lebanese are not yet correct to realize the size of the cultural and heritage loss in their capital."