The Square will be renovated in three phases, following Ivan Meštrović’s original concept design.
The Square of Victims of Fascism is getting a facelift, Večernji.hr reported on July 27.
The reconstruction of the area around the building of Croatian Association of Artists, the Meštrović Pavilion, popularly known as the Mosque (džamija) will cost HRK 4.2 million in the first phase, and after the third phase, the area from Branimirova to Jurišićeva will become a pedestrian zone. Part of the money for the reconstruction will also be spent on new lighting, which will illuminate the pavilion, as well as the fountain in front of it.
– Nine stone benches and six folding stands – can be found in the City’s call for bids, and the works should be finished by the end of September. The benches will be made of stone, a spokesperson for the city administration told Večernji, so they match the rest of the square, and garbage bins will be buried in the ground so they could not be destroyed. Also, Inox bicycle racks will be installed in-ground and cyclists will pull them out of their “beds” when they need them so that pedestrians could walk around the square without any disturbances. Cyclists won’t have to worry about parking in the dark because a new lighting system will be added to illuminate the Pavillion and the fountain in front of it.
In the second phase of the renovation works, architect Loredana Stunić will be in charge of renovation the Pavillion, and in the third phase, the parking places along Frane Rački Street should be turned into a pedestrian zone. The final idea is to restore the square to the historic centre of the city, which was conceived by Ivan Meštrović and based on which the entire area from Branimir Market, via Kneza Višeslav Street, the Square of Victims of Fascism, Franjo Rački Street to Jurišićeva, forming a pedestrian-only zone.
Translation from the original at Večernji.hr.
The building has been renovated, renamed, and repurposed numerous times – read more about its turbulent history here.
