Dawn of a new area
Silence has settled over plac Konstytucji. Once the hub of dozens of sidewalk vendors hawking just about anything from shoelaces and underwear to Vietnamese fast-food cuisine, this somewhat spontaneous landmark for small business is no longer.
In one night in late October, vendors pulled up stakes on 48 kiosks on plac Konstytucji and moved to a new home in a warehouse on ulica Powazkowska, ending four years of clashes with city officials over the right to do business on the square.
It was obvious from the very beginning that the market, established in 1991, was only temporary, said Pawel Szybisz, head of Bestseller, a company that until recently managed the square's kiosk market and has supervised its shut- down.
The cleanup of plac Konstytucji is part of a citywide effort to bring order to downtown parks, squares and main streets. Also receiving an eviction notice were vendors in the open-air market in the plac Defilad area running along ulica Marszalkowska to ulica Swietokrzyska and under the shadow of the Palace of Culture and Science.
About 700 vendors, the majority of them from plac Defilad, together with city officials last month established a company called Kupieckie Domy Towarowe. Its first project will be to build a temporary shopping pavilion on ulica Swietokrzyska, next to the Palace of Culture, for about zl. 16,000, Szybisz said. Eventually they will move to plac Bankowy, to a permanent location behind Pizza Hut and near the planned metro station.
"The city found a solution and I think it would be impossible to figure out a better way," Szybisz said.
Although city officials are still wrestling with a design for plac Defilad, the grand plan for plac Konstytucji envisions a pedestrian square with benches and trees in place of fast-food stands and parking lots. The revamp is scheduled for completion within a year, officials said.
"The entire square will be modernized with its roads and sidewalks redone," said Malgorzata Gajewska, spokeswoman at City Road Management (ZDM), the city agency responsible for renovation of the square. "Also, lamp posts and traffic lights will be changed and the car parking in the middle of the square will be closed down," she said.
While many vendors have been forced out, at least one has returned and hopes to capitalize on the new look. Flower vendor Emilia Gers said she's back on the plac, where she used to trade before the economic transition.
"It is permissible to sell flowers here," Gers said. "I can sell them anywhere, they adorn the city."
Looking forward to a return of a more peaceful plac and eyeing a revival in trade, Gers added, "There were benches here instead of the market, and a lot of people were taking walks. It's the middle of the city, not a bazaar."
