The history of Aleja Wojska Polskiego in Szczecin reflects the vicissitudes of our society after World War II.
The reconstruction, development and functioning of this thoroughfare is a series of events that tell about the fate of this city - for many Poles from further regions of Poland - located somewhere far in the west of the country and probably by the sea...
Aleja Wojska Polskiego in Szczecin (before 1945, German Falkenwalder Straße) is one of the main streets of Szczecin - the longest downtown street of our city (6.9 km long) running from the city center in a north-western direction.
The street starts at Plac Zwycięstwa in the Centrum housing estate and runs north-west.
As a result of the bombing of Szczecin during World War II, part of the buildings within Zgody Square were destroyed.
Zgody Square before the war:
The representative avenue, after the post-war, crude, communist reconstruction, functioned as the center of the city, in which there was no other central point, such as the town square. It was here that private trade concentrated in small pavilions built along the avenue in place of demolished tenement houses. Here, there were cafes and restaurants with different reputations, but they attracted people and the street was teeming with life of its own. Keeping the proportions, you can compare Aleja Wojska Polskiego in Szczecin to Piotrkowska Street in Łódź!
On December 1, 1973, by a fatal decision of one of the mayors of the city, tram traffic was withdrawn from the most important section of the avenue between Szarych Szeregów Square and Zwycięstwa Square. This resulted in the gradual "death" of the street and the flight of shops and businesses to other parts of the city.
The fountain with the colloquial name "Wailing Wall", which in fact expressed feelings after the degradation of this street, was itself liquidated soon after, and only a memory remains of it:
For many decades, nothing has been done to revive this forgotten part of the city center (!).
In July and August 2015, the Szczecin Sociological Society and the Center for Social and Economic Development conducted public consultations on the future appearance of the section of Wojska Polskiego Avenue between Szarych Szeregów Square and Zwycięstwa Square. In public consultations, the residents rejected the possibility of reconstructing the tram track or transforming the alley into a promenade. In January 2017, the city conducted a second public consultation, in which members of housing estate councils and residents had the opportunity to choose one of four concepts for redeveloping the avenue. Option I was chosen: two roadways with one lane separated by a green belt with parking spaces, introduction of a zone with a speed limit of 30 km/h.
In June 2017, the city, in cooperation with the Association of Polish Architects, announced a competition for the design of the redevelopment of Wojska Polskiego Avenue from Plac Zwycięstwa to Plac Szarych Szeregi. The competition was won by the project prepared by the Archaid studio. At the end of 2020, the city announced a tender for the renovation of this section of the avenue in accordance with the winning design. The tender was settled in March 2021 in favor of MTM S.A.
Just today, August 26, after the eight-year revitalization, the avenue was made available to the residents.
After 50 years of inactivity, Aleja Wojska Polskiego has a chance to come back to life in the city and become one of its landmarks.
I have been living in Szczecin for many years (the oldest highlanders do not remember since when) and Aleja Wojska Polskiego has always been the most important part of the city for me. Her sad fate worried me and that's why I'm glad that after years something is changing for the better...
Will it be so?
