Destroying heritage buildings and houses, green spaces, public beaches has become an unfortunate trend in past years in Beirut, and the latest victim might me the old Lycee Abdul Kader building. I don’t know how the rumors started or who started them, but I remember hearing about selling this old building to Walid Ben Talal and turning it into a mall four years ago, yet nothing happened.

The sole owner of this property, as well as Beirut’s municipality have denied any demolition plans to the old school’s building but as always in Lebanon, there’s no smoke without fire, and the fact that this 160-year old building is not listed as a heritage building means it will be hard to preserve it if plans are set to replace it by a mall or a commercial center.

In all cases, all reports indicate so far that there are no plans to destroy the old building or move the school to Baabda.