The structure was comprised of 42 individual reinforced concrete cylindrical silos and is credited with preventing the blast radius from further impacting the heavily-populated western portion of the city, which could have killed into the thousands. The remaining portion has since become a de facto memory site to those lost in the blast (and its survivors) similar to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial that was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. 

Back in May, Beirut issued an international call for proposals for a port renewal competition that includes the silo site. Many Lebanese citizens have responded favorably to the restoration of the silos in support of victims’ families who have become fed up with the controversial judicial investigation into the blast’s root causes. The struggle has drawn parallels to the failure to hold certain parties accountable after its devastating Civil War. 

“For those who are those enthusiastic to [re]build, the sequence is that you first uncover the truth, you hold those responsible to account, you take lessons learned, then you start building,” a survivor told Kareem Chehayeb. “The Lebanese wars have proven that if you just build without taking these steps, it doesn’t work. Today’s situation proves it.”