Work is almost done on the car park downtown Bucharest, at Universitate Square, an investment of EUR 13 million through a private – public partnership. The 400– place car park on three underground levels is 15 meters below the ground and should have been done in April, but was further delayed due to the bad weather last winter. Work on the car park started in spring 2011.

Once finalized, the cost of parking in the new car park will be of some EUR 0.38 per hour. The winners of the concession contract – Terratest Cimentaciones S.L., Alius Inver siones S.L and Simex S.A- will invest EUR 13 million in the project. Money for the refurbishment of the area above the ground will come from the Municipality, some EUR 0.5 million. The statues which were moved to allow construction work and digging in the area were already brought back.

Work on this car park unearthed human remains dating back 400 years ago. According to archeologists, 40 human skeletons were discovered in what seems to have been a cemetery located near two churches from the 16th and 17th centuries. The Bucharest Archeology Institute, the National Museum of History and the Rainer Institute of the Romanian Academia have teamed up to analyze the human bones. This was the second archeological discovery since works started on the underground car park. The ruins of a 300-year old academia were also unearthed, along with water pipes from that period, but the Bucharest City Hall has decided to continue work on the car park and said the ruins would be incorporated into the car park project.

editor@romania-insider.com