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People looking at a model of the Gazprom tower in St. Petersburg in 2006.
The UN cultural agency called on the Russian government on Wednesday to halt plans to build a steel skyscraper among the baroque mansions of St. Petersburg’s historic center.
The 403-meter tower, intended to house the headquarters of state-controlled Neft, has caused an outcry among opposition groups.
“We’re hoping the [federal] decision to build it won’t be taken. It will damage the image of Russia,” said Grigory Ordzhonikidze, head of UNESCO in Russia.
St. Petersburg authorities on Tuesday approved the construction of the tower, which developers say will cost at least $3 billion. If built, it would be as tall as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and would dominate the canals and pastel-colored houses of the city.
It could mean Russia’s second-biggest city being added to UNESCO’s list of endangered world heritage sites, Ordzhonikidze added.
Both President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin call St. Petersburg their hometown.
“They understand that they can do anything as there is no punishment waiting for them,” said Boris Vishnevsky, a member of the liberal Yabloko party. “It seems Putin has become an outsider to St. Petersburg.”
Vishnevsky said the tower would far exceed the standard height of buildings in city.
The project’s backers say it will bring investment to a neglected corner of the city and the design will complement the surrounding architecture, a notion dismissed by conservationists.
“St. Petersburg is unique not because of one building or one historical monument but due to the entire architectural ensemble,” said Antonina Yeliseyeva from the preservationist Zhivoi Gorod (Living City) group. “We simply cannot let this eyesore be built in the center.”
