This is one of the ideas born during last week’s creative workshops. At the meeting in Karoliniškės, residents of Lazdynai, community representatives, and Telecentro employees discussed how the approximately 2-hectare area near the tower could change.
“As always, before starting territory renewal projects, we invited residents to jointly create a vision for the future of the place – who will be the users of this meadow, what functions and zoning might appear here,” said the capital’s mayor Valdas Benkunskas to BNS.
“The creative workshop participants agreed that a playground in the meadow is necessary, and it could even include water elements that would serve as pools in summer and function as an ice rink in winter,” he added.
The cosmic playground, very popular among locals and considered a symbol of Karoliniškės, was created between 1979 and 1992 by architect Viktoras Cholinas. He was inspired by seaside sand and waves, and the architect’s daughters Andželika and Greta Cholinas were also involved in the creation.
However, in 2013, the management of the “Čiauškutis” kindergarten decided that the playground needed to be demolished because it was not safe for children with special needs.
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“This playground was built improperly: it was not suitable for children because it was surrounded by brick walls, damp, and no protective material was applied,” the then kindergarten director Natalija Lauciuvienė told the news portal “15min”.
According to V. Benkunskas, the new playground will not be identical to the old one – it is planned to modernly interpret some of its characteristic colorful elements and thus commemorate an important fragment of Karoliniškės history.
According to the mayor, people also expect that this place will have rest, leisure, and sports infrastructure, food grilling zones, and water stations. On the other hand, it is important to maintain the meadow’s naturalness and arrange the passages, he emphasized.
“The data and conclusions from the community meeting will be analyzed, then architects from the Vilnius Development Company will prepare a concept for the public space. It is planned to return to the residents of Karoliniškės and Lazdynai and other interested parties in the fall to continue consultations,” V. Benkunskas told BNS.
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Project proposals are expected by the end of this year.
Author Olivija Švelnikaitė
