Schindler's long renovation list

The Communal Buildings Office (ZBK) has recently chosen Jerzy Wowczak's design to renovate the building's frontage, and the architect is now preparing the final documents. Soon the office will announce another competition for the design of the remaining part of the complex.

Last year the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage contributed zł.4 million, which was spent on the roof, windows and insulation.

The two-storey building of around 1,000 sqm will host a museum devoted to Oskar Schindler and the Jews who were saved. "We also want to show the Jewish culture that ceased to exist during the Holocaust. It was the greatest Jewish culture of that time and it died out so quickly." says Jacek Majchrowski, the Mayor of Kraków.

Tomasz Kamuda, technical director at the Communal Buildings Office (ZBK), hopes that it will be possible to launch the initial works in the fall and do major works next year. "If the City Council makes the decision to give funds to the project at the beginning of the year, and the building permit is given this year, we will be able to announce a tender for construction works at the beginning of 2007, and the first building could be completed by vacation, or at least by the fall," says Kamuda.

The whole complex consists of 13 halls. The City Hall plans a modern-art museum and a venue and exhibition center. Unofficial estimates put the cost of the project at zł.30 million and it could take several years to complete.