TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A pharaonic landmark in central Tirana built as a posthumous museum for Albania’s communist-era strongman, Enver Hoxha, is being transformed into a youth training and art center. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama attended Thursday’s symbolic start of work to radically transform the largely abandoned, 17,000-square-meter (180,000-square-foot) structure. It was designed by Hoxha’s daughter and her husband, both architects. Long viewed with mixed feelings by Albanians due to its link with the hated communist regime, the building narrowly escaped destruction a few years ago under a former center-right government. Other proposals had included turning it into a national library, a theater or even the country’s parliament.
