A walk to Zamienie yesterday revealed the pace of development on Warsaw's southern fringe. Above: One new estate arises in the distance, west of the old vaccine plant, another (Polne Maki) in the foreground, between Zamienie and Dawidy Bankowe. Whoever buys that house with the white cladding in place needs to bear in mind that within five years these fields will be solid with new development.
What of the old Zamienie? Above: Barracks built for employees of the vaccine plant have been vacated in recent months. Ul. Zakładowa will be torn down and doubtless new houses will arise here. We took the opportunity of the fact that yesterday was Corpus Christi, a public holiday, and that there would not be security guards on the site of the former vaccine works, and walked in.
Above: The old boiler house ( 52° 6'47.04"N, 20°58'22.18"E). Wonderful atmosphere.
Above: The old fire station. Securely padlocked, windows boarded over. I'd like to think that inside stands a trio of perfectly preserved STAR 25 fire engines.
Above: General view of Zamienie. What will happen here? No doubt not a trace of the vaccine plant will remain, hundreds of new houses will spring up, several hundred cars will take their owners to central Warsaw via our overcrowded roads. Until then, it behoves us to visit Zamienie and record it in every detail for posterity.
Your sentiments - stout and determined cartographer of the past and the present - are to be admired! Capture the old and the present Zamienie for the luxury of posterity. Once physically erased, these beloved outposts of heritage and culture will reside in the mind and on the page and on the screen for all to consider. You have quintessentially caught the essence of psychogeograpy - the imagining of three gleaming fire engines behind perfectly padlocked doors! What a burning vision of greatness that is! Imagine the past and the love and care and devotion of that station and its members. OUM !
ReplyDeleteFrater Cornucopius III {recently back from a trip to Mount Kailash with the order of the silent contemplatives, who by the way, all send their greetings}
What never ceases to amaze me is why the local authorities do not tie 'road and infrastructure improvement' requirements when issuing building permits - let the developers build at their heart's content and not share fiscal responsibility for improvements - a no brainer
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