Dark parks: Sofia municipality to begin repairing lighting
After a deluge of complaints, Sofia municipality is finally beginning to repair the lighting in the Bulgarian capital city’s parks, according to a statement on February 14 by mayor Vassil Terziev.
The first parks where the lighting will be repaired and renovated are four of the most-visited places in Sofia: South Park, West Park, Zaimov Park and Hippodrome Park.
After the renovation of the lighting of these four parks, a review and survey is pending in the rest of the capital city’s parks, the statement said.
The municipality is “committed to taking all necessary steps to build modern lighting in Sofia’s parks so that they can be used fully and safely by citizens,” the statement said.
It said that in South Park, in the area between the Hilton Hotel, the European Union metro station, the Spartak pool, Arsenalski Boulevard, and Petko Karavelov Boulevard, the lighting is in “visibly poor condition” and there would be a complete redesign of the park lighting.
In the area between Arsenalski Boulevard, Byala Cherkva Street, Petko Todorov Blvd, Henrich Ibsen Str, Kozyak Str and part of the residential part of upper Lozenets, existing lighting will be repaired.
In West Park, the lighting is functional, but there are constant technical problems such as tripping fuses and changing light bulbs. Since July 2023, there has been no maintenance of the park, the municipality said.
The lighting in Zaimov Park was installed more than 20 years ago and there are serious problems. In Sofia’s draft budget for 2024, a sum of 300 000 leva is provided for construction and installation of lighting.
In Hippodrome Park, the existing lighting is experimental solar lighting installed almost 15 years ago and not functioning today. It is necessary to redo the lighting, restore power supply and install LED lighting fixtures, the municipality said.
(Photo: Sofia municipality)
