[4][5][6][7][8] In the past, the area was not an empty space between the two shrines; rather it was divided into a single main street and a number of alleyways, with residential and commercial buildings.

During the Baathist era, the buildings between the two shrines were demolished to make way for the area known today as Bayn al-Haramayn.

In 1979, the project saw the demolition of buildings, historical monuments, seminary schools and old mosques as well as graves of some scholars.

[9] In 1987, Saddam Hussein went to Karbala to announce a new expansion plan for the shrines and their connection with a shared square.

They also uncovered new areas in Bayn al-Haramayn that saw further more houses, shops and monuments destroyed, including a two storey mosque that was built in 1949.

[13] In 1997, the city council laid cement to the damaged floor, and planted palm trees along two columns of the area.

[22] The project included the development of infrastructural and electric installations, ablution facilities, cooling systems, closed-circuit cameras, and auditory devices.