Athens, Greece ? The city’s main square is torn up. Marble tiles sit in stacks, and barricades block all entrances.

Subway-bound Athenians have to step over debris, navigate cracked sidewalks and avoid clouds of dust from a bulldozer.

Just two months before the Summer Olympics, most key projects finally are done or coming together — astonishing skeptics and gratifying Greeks who banked everything on their last-minute style.

“All indications are that everything will be ready in time, even if it will be at the last moment,” International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge told the Belgian newspaper Le Soir.

Now it’s the details that could haunt the Olympic homecoming.

The condition of the main Syntagma Square — and many other aspects of life in Athens — will shape the image of the games and Greece itself as it desperately seeks to breathe life into its sagging tourism industry. An untidy and unfinished cityscape would undercut attempts to showcase the modern side of this ancient land.

“We are not perfect … but I’m sure we will manage to pleasantly surprise the world,” said Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni, who has appealed to residents to spruce up their buildings and stop littering.

Projects such as the meddlesome roof over the main Olympic stadium, a state-of-the art Olympic village, media centers, roads, footpaths, upgraded train stations and a suburban rail have made stunning progress during the past few months.

Even the troubled marathon route is coming along.

“We control things. The venues are almost ready,” Fani Palli-Petralia, the deputy culture minister coordinating Olympic preparations, told the Associated Press. “Now we (must) work very hard with the landscaping and the greening.”

But no one in Athens is popping champagne just yet. The loose ends are evident in nearly every venue.

Athletes dive in to begin the women's 50-meter backstroke during an international swimming meet. The meet Friday at the Olympic Aquatic center's main pool in Athens was part of a series of test events for the Aug. 13-29 Olympics.

At the main Olympic stadium, for example, the steel-and-glass canopy roof was put in place this month to the huge relief of organizers. The roof still has to get painted and outfitted with carbon panels and lights and cables hung for the opening ceremony Aug. 13. Only 8,000 of the 75,000 stadium seats have been installed.

Over at the command and control center of the Greek police, officials are waiting for the end-of-June installation of the electronic system that will be the eyes and ears of 70,000 security personnel expected to patrol the games.

Greece is spending an overwhelming $1.22 billion for security, about 50 times more than Atlanta and five times more than Sydney, Palli-Petralia said.

“Everything had changed after Sept. 11. So, of course, we had delays in security because it was difficult for mankind and the experts all over the world to decide really what was needed,” Palli-Petralia said. “The whole plan of security had to be enhanced.”

The complex security network, called C4I, is being set up by a consortium led by San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp. Palli-Petralia said the group has begun work inside venues.

“The security company is already in all the venues and people are working. The C4I is very close to being ready,” Palli-Petralia said. “From July 1, when the Olympic security starts, Greece is going to be the most safe place in the world.”