Dragan Popović, the nephew of the architect Vujadin Popović who designed the hotel "Crna Gora", announced that he will file a criminal complaint against the owner of the company "Normal company" Žarko Burić for the demolition.
Popović said that he had spoken with a lawyer, but that he would talk about further steps in more detail only next week.
Before that, he said, he needs to make arrangements with other relatives of the late architect, who live in Australia.
Pointing out that many architects "told him to start a court process, and they will support him", Popović added that the project "is protected by itself, but that in our country, in any law, there are some loopholes".
"It's a building that was recognizable in the former Yugoslavia. And if it wasn't for that, he (Burić) told me that he wouldn't touch anything from the existing colonnade and that... that it would remain.... Just to add on annex and there was still talk about the balconies outside. I said that if anything changes in the copyright, that copyright is threatened," said Popović.
He said that he spoke with Burić "face to face" in the Podgorica hotel in 2011, before the foundation stone for "Montenegro" was laid.
"When I finished the conversation with Burić, when I was leaving, he added, as I understood it: 'I will knock him down'. I can face him freely... I said, 'you can do anything, but you will be held accountable,'" he said is Popovic.
He will be supported by many colleagues: Popović, Photo: Boris Pejović
Burić did not want to comment on Popović's statement yesterday.
In an interview with "Vijesti", Burić said two days ago that they did not contact the family of the late architect Popović, "because every building has a lifespan... and if it is under the protection of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, then it is different".
"It's a building that was recognizable in the former Yugoslavia. And if it wasn't for that, he (Burić) told me that he wouldn't touch anything from the existing colonnade and that... that it would remain.... Just to add on annex and there was still talk about the balconies outside. I said that if anything changes on the copyright, that copyright is threatened."
The hotel with the longest tradition in Podgorica, which was designed by the architect Vujadin Popović, opened its doors back in 1953, and the main annex with the town cafe and lounges on the first floor was demolished last week.
The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism announced yesterday that the report of the Directorate for Inspection Affairs confirms that the construction permit and technical documentation were not followed, and they expect "effective undertaking of all additional measures within the jurisdiction of the inspection, including possible reports to judicial authorities".
"Such action is particularly important considering that, in this case, in addition to material, non-material damage was caused due to the destruction of architectural heritage of specific symbolic value. In this sense, the Ministry, in its first public address, requested that the competent authorities, in addition to among other things, obligate the perpetrator to rebuild the illegally demolished segments of the old hotel," the announcement states.
As stated, the Ministry will follow the entire process to the end, "in an effort to contribute to full compliance with the procedures prescribed by law, without any exceptions or deviations, especially in cases where the valuable construction and architectural heritage of Montenegro is concerned."
Branimir Gvozdenović's department notes that in the phase of giving consent to the planning document, issuing urban-technical conditions and building permits to the investor LLC "Hotel Crna Gora", in addition to other legally prescribed procedures, they insisted on preserving the architectural and symbolic values of the hotel "Crna Gora".
"The building permit was issued in the context of the project confirmation that the main facade of Hotel Crna Gora facing Freedom Street and St. Peter Cetinjski Boulevard with the colonnade columns will not be ruined during the construction of the new building," the announcement states.
The Ministry states that after the aforementioned part of the hotel "Crna Gora" was demolished "without any announcement, indication or warning," they publicly pointed out the irregularity in question and informed the construction inspection of the Directorate for Inspection Affairs.
According to them, the administration, as the authority responsible for the control of the execution of works on the ground, initiated the inspection control procedure.
"The building permit was issued in the context of the project confirmation that the main facade of Hotel Crna Gora facing Freedom Street and St. Peter Cetinjski Boulevard with the colonnade columns will not be ruined during the construction of the new building."
"Once again, we emphasize that this institution has no authority, nor operational mechanisms, to prevent and sanction such events. After giving consent to the planning document, issuing urban-technical conditions and building permits, the Ministry is not authorized to supervise the works and check their compliance with the permit ", the announcement states.
Ten days to revise the project
The Construction Inspection of the Directorate for Inspection Affairs ordered the company "Normal Company" to correct and revise the main project within ten days and harmonize it with the preliminary project on the basis of which the construction permit was obtained. In the inspection report, as reported by the "Analitika" portal, it is stated that the investor is prohibited from carrying out work on the demolition of the building until the planning documentation is changed, which provides for the retention of the southern facade (toward Svetog Petar Cetinjski Boulevard) and the western facade (toward Ulica Slobode) , five functional units in the full height of the building, as well as a colonnade of columns with a circular cross-section with a terrace roof in front of the tavern on the southern facade.
"Based on the established factual situation, inspection control records, as well as the opinion of the responsible structural designer of the preliminary and main project, it was determined that an unforeseen demolition occurred due to unforeseen circumstances, which is why a decision was made to prohibit the demolition of the building on August 14 .
The decision ordered the investor to make changes to the main project within ten working days and the construction inspector will monitor the implementation of the ordered measures," the report states. The portal reports that the construction inspector will control the compliance of the changes to the revised main project and the conceptual design based on who was issued a building permit by the competent ministry.
The report states that the main project envisages the retention of the southern and western facades, the functional unit of five in the full height of the building (PV + 1) and the colonnade of columns with a circular cross-section with a terrace roof in front of the tavern on the southern facade. It is stated that an inspection of the construction site documentation found that there is an entry in the construction diary with a remark entered by the contractor, where it is stated that "despite the installation of lateral security for the structural elements that do not collapse, due to the poor condition of the load-bearing capacity of the horizontal and vertical elements, unforeseen events occurred demolition of the same".
"The investor gave the construction inspectors the opinion of the responsible structural designer of the conceptual and main project, Prof. Dr. Mladen Ulićević, in which it is stated that the loss of stability of the facade walls occurred for two reasons: wall structures without vertical cerclages and weak horizontal cerclages, with the very low quality of the binding plaster, were insufficient to resist the horizontal actions after the removal of the mezzanine ceilings of the upper floors, and that the temporary lateral protection was insufficient to prevent the walls from toppling inwards," the report says.
"In the opinion, the responsible designer of the structure points out that it is necessary for the investor and the contractor to dismantle the columns of the colonnade as a whole, as well as the remaining part of the stone facade of the ground floor and protect them from damage, and to return them to their original state at a suitable stage of construction in an appropriate and safe manner , using the methods of conservation and restoration works, with the recommendation that a new construction project should be done for this part of the building," reads the finding of the Building Inspection.
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