In response to the news regarding the tearing down of the wall in Mohamed Mahmoud street, adjacent to the Science Building at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Tahrir Campus, the University would like to clarify several points:
- In the framework of the plan of the Egyptian government to develop and renovate the area of Tahrir Square, AUC is tearing down the Science Building at its Tahrir Square campus this month, making way for more gardens and green space on the downtown campus.
- The decision to tear down the six-story building, built in 1961, on the corner of Kasr Al-Aini Street and Mohamed Mahmoud Street, and which used to house the science departments before the move of students to New Cairo campus in 2008, came after the closure of the building since then and the damages that have been inflicted on the building during January 25 Revolution.
- The decision to demolish the building also comes with AUC’s decision to change Tahrir Campus into a cultural hub. Since AUC transferred the bulk of its academic activity to the New Cairo campus, AUC Tahrir Square has been used for lectures, concerts and continuing education classes, while providing a huge collection of English-language books through the AUC Bookstore. Now, the University is taking steps to further establish the downtown campus as a cultural center for the surrounding community. The demolition of the Science Building, expected to take up to six months, would open up the campus to visitors. It will double the amount of green space on campus and afford AUC the opportunity to change pathways with respect to access onto the campus.
- In order to start the demolition process, the wall in Mohamed Mahmoud street, adjacent to the Science Building had to be removed to allow for the entry of the construction equipment and for the execution of the demolishing process. However, due to the significance of the wall that depicts drawings and writings on January 25 Revolution, AUC has photographed, documented and archived the graffiti on the wall and plans to hold a permanent exhibition that documents an era in the Egyptian political contemporary life. The exhibition will be open to the public.
