The Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds have signed another contract in the context of EU competition for the restoration of cultural heritage: the project of “Culture, Science and Education for Economic Development – New Croatian Natural History Museum.” The project will be co-financed by EU funds in the amount of 3,734,000.00 kuna, while the total value of the project is 4,667,500.00 kuna.
The agreement was signed by Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Gabrijela Žalac, Director of Central Finance and Contracting for the European Union Tomislav Petric, and Director of the Croatian Natural History Museum Prof. Tatjana Vlahović. The signing ceremony was attended by the Head of the Office for programs and projects of the European Union and the City of Zagreb, Jelena Ricov, and the President of the Expert Council of the Croatian Natural History Museum, curator Ph.D. Iva Mihoci, reports HRTurizam.
Grants were awarded to the Croatian Natural History Museum for the preparation of project documentation in the first group activities tender “Preparation and implementation of integrated development programs based on the restoration of cultural heritage”. The project will create all necessary documents that will enable the successful application of the project for the second group of activities of this competition, and ensure that work is carried out on the reconstruction of the palace Amadeo which houses the Croatian Natural History Museum.
The reconstruction of the palace will solve the main problems that prevent further development of the museum, such as lack of space and outdated equipment. With the help of EU funds, all visitors will be offered a new, modern, fun and unique Museum of Natural History which will greatly contribute to the development of cultural tourism in the Upper Town of Zagreb.
“This is another project in a series that will make intelligent use of EU funds to link tourism and the preservation of cultural heritage. The revitalization of the palace Amadeo will enrich the already large tourist and cultural offer of the Upper Town, which will eventually contribute to economic and social development of the whole of Zagreb,” said Minister Gabrijela Žalac.
Palace Amadeo is entered into the Register of Cultural Assets which has about 8,000 registered cultural properties, seven of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List and 14 of which are on the UNESCO representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
In the framework of EU funds, cultural heritage is in the Operational Programme of Competitiveness and cohesion is defined as an area of particular importance for the socio-economic development of Croatia. The total 380 million kuna from the European Regional Development Fund is intended to provide support to projects that restore cultural heritage, including investment in cultural goods and the development of primarily tourism facilities and services in order to contribute to sustainable development at the local and regional level.
