When children from Nikšić in the seventies of the last century stated in a survey that they imagined the kindergarten as an Indian tent, the architect Pavle Popović got down to business and managed to architecturally convey and shape the wishes of the children, so the "Sunce" kindergarten was built in the Humce neighborhood of Nikšić. For the aforementioned kindergarten, whose roof is built in the shape of a dome, Popović received one of the most significant republican awards in the field of architecture, the "Borbe" award.
Even today, after five decades, the "Indian tent" from children's dreams is just as warm, cheerful, imaginative and fun. When you step into the kindergarten, the sun of smiles and warmth shines on you. But when you look up, you realize that the roof of that "magic tent" has given way, because there is almost no room where water does not penetrate when it rains heavily. This was also the case recently, when it rained heavily in Nikšić for several days, and containers were placed in the kindergarten because water was leaking from the ceiling.
"This is a kindergarten that was built in the seventies and is quite old. As for the roof, that is our biggest problem. The rain that had been falling for the past few days had caused problems and the parents were worried. Most of it was at the entrance, where there was a slightly higher flow of water. There was sporadic leakage in the classrooms, but that is certainly not pleasant either. The weather had improved, so the handyman was already on the roof and did what he could to repair and fix. In the coming period, there are still some works ahead", said Snežana Zogović, director of the Public Preschool Institution (JPU) "Dragan Kovačević".
According to her, the local administration and the relevant Ministry immediately responded to their request and that of the Parents' Council, so that they expect the complete renovation of the roof to be done during the summer, when the children are on vacation, in order to welcome the school year with a reconstructed roof.
"That problem dates back years and there were interventions on that roof, but it is a large area, a demanding roof with domes, and the water finds its way. We are doing everything we can to rehabilitate. In cooperation with the Council of Parents, the local self-government and the relevant Ministry, we reached an agreement that this year we will repair what we can, because now the weather conditions do not allow any major intervention, and that we will wait for nicer weather and finally replace that roof. "The minister promised to allocate funds for the roof," said Zogović.
According to Mirko Pavićević, a member of the Council, the Council of Parents of the Dragan Kovačević Public School "is in contact with the craftsmen every day and they are closely monitoring the temporary repair of the roof".
"Parents told us that the roof is leaking, that there are buckets all over the building, that they are afraid that they will have problems with the electricity, because there are places where water passes by the electricity and they are afraid of short circuits and for the children's health. We will not give up the idea of renovating the roof to the end. We believe that this temporary repair will help to make it through the winter and the children to be dry, and then in the spring we can start preparations for replacing the roof. It was agreed that the roof had collapsed and that it should be replaced," Pavićević said.
JPU "Dragan Kovačević" has 20 educational units, and this year about 2.200 children were enrolled.
"In all educational units, we intervene where necessary. We do not have this problem in any educational unit, because some have been reconstructed, and a certain part are new. Investments are always needed in every facility, but this is the biggest problem as far as kindergartens in Nikšić are concerned," said the director of the JPU "Dragan Kovačević".
As for the heating, as she pointed out, they don't have any problems for now - the classrooms are warm, the children are happy, and therefore the parents and employees are happy.
"Most of our buildings are heated with electricity and we are satisfied. During the summer, the boiler was reconstructed in the central kindergarten. We had some supplies of heating oil from last year, we managed to get it this year as well - the relevant Ministry decided what we need for this upcoming period. So far we haven't had any problems, the classrooms are warm and we are all satisfied," said Zogović.
Even if the roof is reconstructed during the summer, the satisfaction will be complete. Although, it would not be out of place to do the facade as well as the carpentry.
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