At the beginning of November, SRE will commence the renovation of the Latvian Riflemen's Square belonging to the Riga Municipality, which is located next to the renovated Museum of the Occupation of Latvia (LOM) complex. A building permit has been received from the Riga City Construction Board for the implementation of the 1st stage of the plan up to the Riflemen's Monument. Renārs Griškevičs, Chairman of the Board of SRE, informs that construction works are planned to be commenced this autumn and to be completed by autumn 2022.
Currently, SRE has restored the state-administered territory around the LOM and ‘Memorial to the Victims of the Soviet Occupation’. With the renovation of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia complex, SRE has taken the initiative to organise the renovation of the cover of the future complex next to the territory of Riga Municipality, which is one of the first examples where the state and the municipality cooperate for a common goal.
The works will take place in several stages: In the 1st stage, the pavement of the square will be restored up to the Riflemen's Monument. For this work, a contract procurement procedure has been concluded with SIA KVINTA BCL, and the works are planned to be completed by the beginning of 2022. At the same time, from the funding attracted for the renovation of the LOM complex, SRE has found an opportunity for the renovation of the two paved areas and lighting of an area of 1400 m2 on the Daugava side, which is planned to be completed by autumn 2022 (Stage 2). Meanwhile, the Riga Municipality plans to renovate a part of the square on the side of Riga Technical University in the coming years (Stage 3).
The total costs for the improvement of Latvian Riflemen's Square are approximately EUR 600 thousand, which are covered mainly from European Structural Funds (ERDF) (85%), Riga City Council (12%), and state (3%) grants.
In parallel, in co-operation with the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, the actual takeover of the premises and the establishment of the museum in the building of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, which was put into operation in August, is taking place gradually. Renovation of the building was completed by implementing the idea donated to Latvia by the well-known Latvian architect Gunārs Birkerts, and by building a bright extension to the historical museum building called the House of the Future. As a result of the reconstruction, the museum has acquired almost twice as much premises – premises for the new exposition, modern office rooms, as well as specially equipped collection storage and archive premises. Currently, LOM has most or approximately 72% of the premises (1,836.2 m2 of 2549 m2 area) available – an exhibition hall, lobby, administrative premises, and a collection storage room on the 1st floor for equipping the premises with exposition and furniture.
In the remaining area, the final works are being carried out to eliminate the identified deficiencies, mainly in the archive premises and museum collection storages, which are supervised by the internal construction supervisors of SRE. Of the 1,300 cosmetic defects and imperfections identified by the construction supervision of SRE, the contractor SIA Skonto būve has eliminated most of them. SRE will accept the execution of works by SIA Skonto būve until the beginning of November, not allowing discounts in the field of quality.
A total of up to 10 434 869 euros was invested in the reconstruction of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, the construction of the Soviet occupation victim memorial complex, and the renovation of Riflemen’s Square: The Ministry of Culture has attracted state budget funding of 9 405 196 euros, the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia has co-financed 160 000 euros, while co-financing from the European Union funds, the state budget and Riga City Council amounts to 869 673 euros.
Last year, under the conditions of the pandemic, 17 national development projects with a total budget of 29.5 million euros were completed under the leadership of SRE. Under the conditions of the pandemic, in accordance with the precautionary and safety requirements, work at 54 national construction sites with a total project budget of more than 193 million euros continues under the management of SRE. SRE provides professional real estate management and administration for approximately 400 real estate properties with 1100 buildings of 1.02 million square metres and more than 3600 land properties of 9.6 million square metres. The company is one of 23 Latvian companies that have received the highest platinum award as part of the Sustainability Index of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, confirming the good governance and sustainability of its operations. SRE was founded in 1996, 100% owned by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Latvia.
