The Armenian government will allocate AMD 172 million (US 469,137) to improve a 6,890 square meter area of ​​​​the Victory Park in Gyumri, the country’s second largest city.

Gyumri’s Victory Park is a green area 600 meters long and 27.56 meters wide, with a total area of ​​​​16,536 square meters.  

Greeks and Yezidis once lived in the area.

After World War II, a decision was made to close the area and establish a park dedicated to the memory of Leninakan (former name of the town) residents who died in the Great Patriotic War. 

According to The Book of Immortality, created by the Veterans' Union, 13,074 Leninakan residents died in the war.

The newly created park was called "Victory", but in Leninakan a localized Russian language version of the park's name, "Pabeda's Garden" was used. People would say, "Come to Pabeda's Garden”, “I’ll meet you at Pabeda’s Garden”. In late autumn and early autumn, expositions of products from textile and industrial factories operating in Leninakan were organized.

The part of the park, especially near the market, was a place for people who came from the villages to relax. Here, they would eat ice cream, sort out their purchases, and kill time if they didn't want to wait for transport at the bus station.

Following the 1988 Spitak earthquake, there was no mass cutting of trees in the Victory Park; the trees were partially pruned. City residents regarded these trees as a symbol of the continuation of the lives of their compatriots who died in the war. Vistors can now encounter stout giants in the park, whose age exceeds half a century. In 2012-2016, there was a tree planting in the park. New benches were also installed, but for ten years, no repair or restoration work has been carried out, especially in the second and third sections of the park.

Of the three programs put forward for voting under the 2026 Gyumri Participatory Budgeting Program at the beginning of the year, the Victory Park Development and Complex Improvement Program (author: Anahit Ghazaryan) won. Last year, the Gyumri Government allocated AMD 90 million for the Participatory Budgeting Program. After the failure of the project, there was concern that the community would be deprived of the opportunity to participate, but the Ministry of Territorial Administration decided to allocate another AMD 86 million to Gyumri.

The project, approved by Gyumri residents, concerns the entire territory of the park. The goal was to launch a development and modernization program for the park, turning it into a multifunctional, safe and comfortable public space, including improving infrastructure, implementing landscaping, and creating entertainment and active recreation areas.

One of the requirements of the Participatory Budgeting Program is that the authors of the proposals coming from the community must also present a cost estimate, albeit an approximate one. The winning project does not include such calculations; the authors made the proposal, leaving further actions and planning of steps to the municipality.

The project’s state-community investment ratio is 80/20. Out of the AMD 86 million, the national government's share is AMD 68.800 million, and the community's share is 17.200 million.

Since the project’s authors had not calculated the problem of groundwater flowing through the territory and the construction methods for its solution, after the calculations and design work carried out by the urban development department of the municipality, the cost of the program doubled. 

Gyumri’s Municipal Council approved an investment of AMD 103 million from community funds for the program and the national government's share was AMD 69 million drams. The program has thus increased to AMD172 million from 86 million. A construction tender was announced within the framework of AMD 179 million.

According to the planned project, this amount will suffice for the improvement of only one section of the park (250 m long, 27.56 m wide). The underground water pipe will be cleaned, green areas will be improved, new benches will be installed, the existing swimming pool will be restored - two more will be added, a playground for children will be designed, etc. 

It has not been announced how much money is allocated for each job, there is no research on the tree species in the park, and it is not known whether old, damaged trees will be replaced with new ones after being cut down or not.

In any case, city authorities hope that someone will submit a tender bid and that the experience of last year's failed project will not be repeated.