In July, construction work suddenly began on Nemunas Island, raising the question – will a Ferris wheel be built here without heritage protection approval and publicly claiming that only engineering works for the repair of pedestrian paths, which do not require a building permit, are being carried out?
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Confusion in the public space was caused by inconsistent explanations from the municipality about what exactly is being built on Nemunas Island, next to the “Science Island”.
In one place it was stated that only pedestrian paths are being repaired by the project, the location of the Ferris wheel had not yet been chosen, elsewhere – that a Ferris wheel could be built there.
During the work, piles about 15 meters deep and approximately 150 sq. m of concrete foundations were installed.
This did not seem to be just a regular pedestrian path repair project, so, after receiving complaints, the State Territorial Planning and Construction Inspectorate (Construction Inspectorate) conducted an inspection at the construction site and launched an investigation.
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Nemunas Island is in a sensitive area, a state-protected cultural heritage site, within the visual protection zone of the historical part of Kaunas city, called New Town.
As in August 15min stated, Dainora Ramanauskė, senior specialist of the Kaunas territorial division of the Cultural Heritage Department (CHD), activities that could interfere with the view of the cultural heritage object are prohibited in the visual protection zone.
As construction on Nemunas Island was nearing completion, the Kaunas territorial division of the CHD had not received a request to approve the Ferris wheel construction (installation) project on Nemunas Island, nor had it received any official inquiry from the Kaunas city municipality administration regarding the possibility of installing a Ferris wheel on Nemunas Island.
However, it is now clear that a Ferris wheel will be erected there – this was officially announced by the Kaunas municipality on Monday. At the same time, the Construction Inspectorate sent its investigation findings to 15min.
