The bids sent to the public tender were opened in early November. That is, the only bid which has been received. Tigra and Vodotehnika companies were the only ones to apply to perform the construction works on the Monument to the Homeland, which is supposed to be located between the City Hall and the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall. But they said they could do the job for 27.4 million kuna (excluding VAT), or almost six million kuna more than what the City of Zagreb initially estimated the project would cost. This prompted the city authorities to analyse the estimated cost of 21.5 million kuna (excluding VAT) for months. And finally, they have made a decision ؘ– the tender will be cancelled, and a new one announced, reports Večernji List on January 14, 2019.
This will happen, according to Dinko Bilić, the head of the City Construction Office, in early February, while the current tender, announced in August 2018, will be annulled, based on the findings and analysis of the costs by an authorised expert witness. Asked when the construction will start on the monument that should be completed by the spring of 2020 at the latest, he did not provide an answer.
Still, the monument’s author, architect Nenad Fabijanić, says that the annulment of the tender should not affect the previously planned deadlines. “The problem appeared because the cost of the works was determined two years ago, based on the main project plans, when the cost of materials and workforce in the construction sector was lower,” Fabijanić says. Now the price should be corrected upwards. “If the works begin in the spring, everything would be done by late autumn. Each segment of the monument demands time, and the works should not be rushed,” adds Fabijanić.
The high price of the monument, which was particularly criticised by the opposition at the City Assembly, was explained by Mayor Milan Bandić by the complexity of the project. The oversized glass bricks will be specially produced in a Czech master workshop, following the designs of sculptor Jeronim Tišljar. The second part of the monument, a three-metre stone monolith where foreign delegations will lay wreaths, will be made from a unique Croatian stone called Adriatic Green. The third element, a 30-metre portal, will be made of particular fibre-reinforced polymer, which is resistant to most acids and corrosion, so the maintenance costs should be lower.
The new Monument to the Homeland is supposed to take over the commemorative duties from the current Altar of the Homeland at Medvedgrad, while the portal will be, according to Fabijanić, a new city gate connecting the Trnje district with the old city centre in the Lower Town. The greenery will frame the whole composition and eliminate the street noise.
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Translated from Večernji List (reported by Petra Balija).
