Exhibition Park, Iași

Exhibition Park lies in the north of Iași, in the Copou area, next to the Copou-side entrance of the Botanical Garden and beside the Emil Alexandrescu Stadium. Its historic entrances were opposite Rondul II and on the side alley Ștefan cel Mare (today Toma Dumitrescu), with a secondary access from Strada Dumbrava Roșie. The park covers about 5.4 hectares and is separate both from the neighbouring Botanical Garden and from Copou Park. The grounds were laid out in 1923, after the union of Bessarabia and Bukovina with Romania, for the "Agricultural, Wine and Cottage Industry Exhibition of Greater Moldavia". The interim commission was led by mayor Constantin Toma and the general commissariat by academician Petru Poni; the site plan was drawn up by architect Nicolae Ghica-Budești and the horticultural work was done by agronomist Cezar Popescu. The exhibition opened on 27 September 1923, and King Ferdinand I visited it on 5 October 1923. In 1935 and 1936 the park hosted further industrial and agricultural exhibitions. For the 1936 event, architect Gh. Grumăzescu built replicas of Hanul Ancuței, of the Bolta Rece tavern and of the arch of the old Academia Mihăileană. The replicas of the Academia Mihăileană arch and of Bolta Rece survive today, and the Hanul Ancuței replica stands within the Casa Vânătorului restaurant. Today the park has alleys, plantings, flower beds and an artesian fountain, as well as busts of Calistrat Hogaș, Anton Pann, Constantin Petrescu and Alexandru Popovici. Since 1 June 2009 it has had a children's playground and an area for skating, skateboarding and cycling. In spring 2014, the marking of more than 300 trees for felling led to public protests, and the felling was stopped.