The government decided in 1850 to built the National Theatre here. The Theatre Board insisted on this location as it was on the route of the main road which connected Varoš Kapija with Savamala and Vračar. Some public figures objected, and Vuk Karadžić commented that the chosen location is "ćorbudžak prema sredini beogradske varoši", the edge compared to the downtown. Italian architect Josif Kasano was chosen because he had experience building on the marshy terrain in Venice. By the middle of the 19th century the pond was partially drained, but the area proved to be too marshy and unstable. The foundations were laid down but it showed that Kasano wasn't that experienced as the terrain remained rich in underground waters witch continued to flow down the Terazije ridge. This required expensive massive deep foundations so the Theatre Board almost went bankrupt and the works stopped in 1857, draining large amount of money. Experts of the day concluded that the draining wasn't done professionally as it drained the pond but turning the terrain into the "underwater" one. The idea was abandoned and the theater was constructed on another site, on the modern Republic Square. Some of the foundation remains were removed when the market was built in the 1920s. However, some parts of the completely forgotten foundations were rediscovered during the 2005-2006 reconstruction of Zeleni Venac. In the early 20th century the pond was drained completely but the remnant of the pond is the large underground water spring under the green market.