 It was "placed on a truck and, like the body of a deceased person, driven round and round the central square as if in an open coffin" while people cheered.The pedestal survived until the summer of 1996, when it was demolished.Ter-Ghazaryan writes that "After the monument to Lenin was toppled, the balance of Republic Square was thrown off, and the empty space left where Lenin used to stand has been subject to various design proposals, but none has succeeded."