Postcard from Bishkek

Bishkek has got a new shopping Center: Bishkek Park, although for a long time it was known everywhere as Ruby Park, and it was only in the last week when the name blazed over the front entrance – just in time for the opening last at 13:00 last Saturday

This one is of particular interest to me because it is right opposite my office on Kievskaya in downtown Bishkek.

In some cities it would pass almost without comment ways it makes quite an imposing addition to the downtown skyline – with its marble tiled edifice emerging right onto the sidewalk and twin 18 storey towers rising high above it … although they are not yet complete. When they are complete, the complex will provide 180 new apartments in 17 different configurations and offering anything from one to five bedrooms. 

When it is completed, Ruby Park and Towers will be the biggest and the tallest building in Kyrgyzstan.

The city center still retains much of its of world character has a number of low rise buildings. On Prospect Chui, for example, opposite the White House there is a string of two and three storey buildings. It is true that many of the original single storey houses have been demolished to make way for modern complexes, but there are still some to be found. There are also many buildings of classical design erected in the years of Joseph Stalin.

Apartment blocks erected after the war tended to be five or nine storeys high … corresponding to the categories of license given to construction companies. (There were other reasons why five storey buildings were common. For example; as well as requiring only a basic license for construction, buildings up to five storeys high required no lift be installed.)

For a while there were few taller buildings in the city – in the microregions, (suburbs), there were a couple of eighteen storey blocks of flats. Since Independence, the Town Plan developed by the City’s architects has become more adventurous and there are plans for several very tall buildings, forty or more storeys high.

There has been some criticism about the wisdom of this as:

• we are in an seismically active area – i.e. an earthquake zone, and
• the fire department apparently doesn’t have equipment to reach beyond eighteen storeys

There are now a number of seventeen and eighteen storey buildings scattered around the city center.

 

Ruby Park and Towers, however, will dwarf them with its two eighteen floor towers of luxury apartments rising rising above the first five floors of the complex which houses the main commercial center, (it calls itself a Trade and Entertainment Center)  - 80,000 square meters:

• Shops presenting world famous brands;
• Restaurants, cafes and fast foods, including the summer veranda with a view over the capital; Lounge bars and restaurants with different styles;
• A Hypermarket – the biggest in Bishkek where they promise “you can find here everything you want”, (… I might have to put that to the test …): Electronics and home appliances; furniture and home goods; goods for children and food products; and so on.
• Cinema – with 5 screens;
• A children’s playground;
• Bowling and billiards;
• Beauty salons;
• … and much, much more … (I have seen reports that refer to a swimming pool, fitness centers and a Finnish sauna);
• Together with ample parking in the underground car park with 500 parking places over two floors;

Now, to be personally honest, shopping is a matter of personal taste … some people love it and make it an occasion, doing the research and then wandering around the shops looking at this and that, asking questions and bargaining, weighing up the options and deciding the “best buy” … whilst, on the other hand, other people hate it … and, personally, I am one of them. To me it’s a necessity of life and the sooner it is over and done with, the better.

When it opened, however, only some of the shops, restaurants, cafés and other facilities were occupied … with only one entrance.

There was also a certain amount of controversy about the safety of the construction with some of the residents of neighbouring apartment blocks holding a press conference to explain their concerns.

As if to underline their concerns, three of the glass panels in the canopy over the main entrance had shattered, presumably the result of something falling on them from the terrace overhead.

As it happens, I had made a deliberate decision not to go and have a look round on Saturday, assuming the place would be crowded … thinking that I would go on the next day instead.  However, as I often say, things here rarely go according to plan and when I set out to cross the road on Sunday morning, all the shutters were well and truly closed and there was a notice pasted  on one of the pillars saying … the opening had been postponed until March 21st.

 

So, for the next week at least I’ll just have to settle for the impression given in this short promotional video they posted on youtube:

Contact Details:

Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Kiev st. 150/1

Tel: +996 (312) 69 11 11 -pbx
Fax: +996 (312) 69 11 10
website: www.rubypark.kg
email: 

Tags: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan