Paris Will Be Called a Big Lviv

Everything seems under repair in the Galician capital now, ranging from the Opera House, the city's calling card, to its Zameretynivska Street thoroughfare, differing from a front-line route perhaps because it has no tanks and other armored vehicles moving forward fast. This winter about a dozen streets and a great many building were renovated in the old Austrian style. This spring the city fathers decided to do something about the square facing the Opera House. Under the Soviets it proudly displayed one of those Lenin statutes, cast in solid shining metal, of course. It is there no longer - and good riddance, of course. Word has it that a fountain will appear come May and the scheduled Central and Eastern European summit. The VIPs are expected to be shown around downtown and will have much-publicized meetings at the Opera, National Museum, Airport, and House of Science and Technology, all to be fitted out with modern fixtures, and Ivan Franko Park, one of the oldest spots, will be planted over with tens of thousands of tulips.

Most of the work is expected to be completed by Easter. There is one thing many Lviv natives feel anxious about: the French might feel chagrined about the whole project, if and when completed; visitors from Europe, after taking in the new Lviv sights, might return to Paris and call it a big Lviv.