The Beran authorities launched an initiative to build a sports hall suitable for people with disabilities (PWD) on the site of the old sports hall under Jasikovac.
As they say, it would be the only hall of its kind in the country, and it would enrich the sports infrastructure and create conditions for training and holding sports events for PWDs.
The manager of the Municipality, Vladimir Đaković, said that a request has already been sent to the city and state architect to call for a tender for the conceptual architectural solution for the construction of the sports hall.
"There are some facilities in Montenegro that are adapted for these purposes, but, as far as I know, such a sports hall does not exist in the country, and this would be the first and only one."
Đaković says that he expects that their idea will find understanding both with the Government and with organizations and institutions that gather PWDs and that organize recreational and competitive sports events for that population.
"We hope that with the joint allocations of the Municipality, the state and those organizations, we will find the necessary funds to build a sports hall for the disabled".
The old hall under Jasikovac, built in the 2012s, collapsed under the weight of heavy snow and even greater carelessness in XNUMX. Immediately after the demolition, the DPS local administration announced that the imposing building would soon be repaired.
Instead, the demolished sports hall, without any protection, was the target of thieves who took away hundreds of square meters of copper roof and metal elements, as well as various parts of the available inventory.
The thieves took, among other things, two baskets, 160 reflectors, hundreds of meters of electrical and other installations, a heating system, brass fences, a safe weighing about 500 kilograms...
The hall was not renovated despite the fact that in 2017, the then Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MORT) announced that a competition for the selection of the best architectural solution would soon be announced.
At that time, it was said that the project assignment, according to which the competition will be announced, envisages that in addition to the reconstruction of the sports field, a solution will be devised that will include a congress hall, as well as additional spaces that will serve sports, cultural and tourist purposes.
"The new approach in the Beran case means that in the next month, an international architectural competition will be announced for the conceptual design of the old sports hall, which will be followed by the preparation of a tender for the complete project documentation based on the winning solution. Funds for the competition and the preparation of project documentation were provided from the capital budget of Montenegro", the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism announced back in 2017.
As it turned out later, things got stuck at the moment when the project committee or unit at MORT, which had already allocated certain funds for a dozen projects, including the sports hall, was dissolved. A well-informed interlocutor from the local administration in Berane explained that the commission functioned in the government that was current until 2016.
"The commission's task was to approve architectural solutions, which were then sent to the Directorate for Public Works. That commission had a solution for a dozen projects, among which was the Beran hall. "If it had remained the way it was supposed to be, that area where the ruins of the old hall are now would have already been remodeled into new facilities," he says.
He reminds that in 2016 there was political turbulence and the formation of first the transitional government, and then the recent DPS government and coalition partners.
"During that turbulence, the commission stopped working and it is not known what happened to the documents related to a dozen projects, including the project related to the area of the former sports hall under Jasikovac in Berane".
According to him, it is not impossible that it was about obstructions towards a rare at that time, that is, the only opposition municipality in the north.
In the Municipality of Berane, for a while after that, they thought about allocating financial resources for the valorization of that attractive area.
Now, after the DPS went into opposition at the state level, in Berane they expect to find good cooperation from the state authorities in realizing the idea of building a sports hall on the site of the old hall according to all world standards adapted to recreational and competitive sports for PWDs.
"As you know, in the meantime, a new sports hall was built in Berane, which is the pride of the city, and next to it is a football stadium, which few have in Montenegro, with all the accompanying facilities and auxiliary fields, including a balloon hall. The construction of a sports hall for the disabled would complete the sports offer", says Đaković.
The former sports hall under Jasikovac was built for the needs of MOSI in Berane in 1981.
It was built by Slovenians, and its architectural solution was once awarded at the international architectural salon in Paris.
"Perhaps the ravages of time have taken their toll, but that hall was simply not maintained. The pillars and structure had not been renovated for years before that. We think that the most decisive factor was the human factor. The biggest problem for us now is the demolition of the remains of the hall. It can't be done that easily. In this sense, we ordered the preparation of an elaboration from which we would see how to do it in the safest way, considering the immediate proximity of an elementary school and other private residential buildings," says Đaković.
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