A six-storey building owned by the Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Service Enterprise (ESLSE) on Gambia St., adjacent to Holy Saviour Catholic Church, will begin coming down this week.

The building, formerly owned by the Ethiopian Maritime & Transit Service Enterprise (EMTSE), houses the ESLSE, a state-enterprise incorporated after four other state-owned companies - Ethiopian Shipping Lines Share Company, Ethiopian Maritime & Transit Service Enterprise, Dry Port Enterprise, and Comet Transport Share Company - amalgamated in 2016. It operates in shipping, freight forwarding, land transport, dry port operations, and related services.

The building's planned demolition has become a flashpoint in a pattern that is harder to ignore. Buildings disappear, sometimes after public money has been spent to renovate them, and questions follow after the wrecking starts. The company's managment plans to move departments and functions to a new building behind the one slated for demolition, built on a 3,000Sqm plot for 400 million Br. Designed by ZIAS Consultants, managed by Derege Assefa (Eng.), MTSE's Multipurpose Building was completed in 2014.

On the 21st floor sits a revolving restaurant, while the lower levels are split between an apartment and an office attachment.

According to Iftu Anwar, communications division manager, much of the new building remains vacant and can accommodate employees who have been moved into it. The old building by the main road had undergone renovations costing close to 390 million Br, although company officials insist the figure is exaggerated. Two departments had been based there, while sources say another four departments were working there as well. ESLSE employs more than 3,000 people.

“There will be no damage even if the building is demolished,” Iftu told Fortune.

After the site is cleared, it is expected to be turned into parking and green space. The building dates back to the Derg era and was designed by Yusuf Negash. A replica of the former Ethiopian Investment Commission building on Africa Avenue (Bole Road) has likewise been demolished. Historic buildings have continued to disappear across the city. This trend has sharpened criticism that demolitions in the capital are too often carried out after considerable spending.

A similar case dates to the late 1960s, when a building that housed the Tourism Commission, designed by Henri Chomette, was demolished after its interior and elevators had been renovated.