THE DEMOLITION of the Edem building and its replacement with a 500 vehicle parking lot will help ease Panama’s street congestion without cost to taxpayers.

An  order to proceed was issued to Consorcio Concreto Casco  on Tuesday, May 23  for the demolition of the building, owned by the Municipality of Panama, in Santa Ana.

The demolition work is scheduled to begin next week. The project will take between four and five months.

The building was built in the 1970s and in the 1990s it became the headquarters of the Municipality of Panama. It was also used to house printing operations and as a storage facility.

Mayor José Isabel Blandón said that the project will play an important role for development in the area by providing suitable parking. It is also expected to reduce the number  of cars going into and out of Casco Viejo, reports La Prensa.

The company will assume the cost of the work, which is $9.9 million, and will have a 20­ year concession to operate the parking lot.