Osijek is currently a large construction site. Cranes and excavators are literally in all parts of the city. Osijek’s baroque pearl – the Fortress – is also full of construction workers, reports Lokalni.hr.
Reconstruction and extension upgrades include sanitary and precipitation sewerage, distribution telecommunication sewerage and electricity cable sewerage, and reconstructing the streets and pedestrian areas, which will create the conditions necessary to revitalize the Fortress as a business, residential, and public space.
“Reconstructing the Fortress is a strategic project of the City of Osijek and the Urban Agglomeration of Osijek with majority funding from the ITU mechanism through the European Regional Development Fund. The project’s total value is 130 million kuna, of which the grant amounts to 65 million kuna. Investments in cultural heritage throughout Europe have proven to be profitable because of the return on investment and generated new income in the economic, hospitality, tourism, and public sector. Furthermore, cultural heritage is an important generator of jobs from construction, repairs, and maintenance related to heritage preservation, which is exactly what is happening at the Fortress, all the way to the development of cultural tourism, creative industry, small and medium enterprises, and startups,” said Mayor Ivan Radić.
The works are progressing according to the planned dynamics, and the completion is planned for the end of 2023. After the reconstruction, the City of Osijek will, for the first time in 300 years, have detailed plans for the underground infrastructure of the Fortress.
The realization of projects worth one billion kuna is also underway. The first major reconstruction of the Copacabana swimming pool after 46 years is a go, and an underpass worth 60 million kuna is being built on Čepinska, which will solve traffic problems that have burdened Osijek for almost half a century. There is also a new Economic Center that will return Osijek to the fair maps of Europe.
“Connecting the Lower and Upper Towns with a promenade is in progress. Thus, the longest Croatian promenade, the Osijek Promenade, will get an additional 3 kilometers. The value of the works is 100 million kuna. In addition, we are starting to design a promenade towards Višnjevac of almost 5 kilometers. We have found extra-budgetary funds for almost all projects,” concludes Radić.
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