SocLand delayed

The delay follows a dispute between City Hall and the Public Procurement Office. Earlier this year City Hall chose architect Czesław Bielecki to design the museum at a cost of zł.1.6 million. This meant forgoing the usual tender process, which the Public Procurement Office (UZP) was reluctant to do. UZP argued that a tender was essential in order to ensure that such a large amount of money was been spent in the most efficient manner possible.

City Hall referred the matter to the voivodship administrative court, claiming that Bielecki has the sole right to design the museum, as he is the author of the localization plan. However, the court decided that City Hall had not proven that Bielecki's concept is the only justifiable one, and the Warsaw authorities are now considering addressing the Chief Administrative Court, which will convene in six months' time.

The Museum of Communism was planned for two storeys under the courtyard of the Palace of Science and Culture from the side of ul. Marszałkowska and would occupy 5,000 sqm. Preparations for the investment started earlier this year and the team behind SocLand wanted to start construction almost immediately in order to have the museum open by the end of the year.

"The museum will be an element of a kind of revitalization of the Palace, a symbolic break up with the fact that it was a gift from Stalin," said Marek Kozicki, the coordinator of the project when he announced the plans in February this year. "We want to show everyday life in the time of communism and socialism. We will reconstruct the interiors of shops, offices, and flats."

Some zł.13 million was earmarked in the budget for the museum, and the SocLand foundation, with Bielecki and director Andrzej Wajda, is cooperating with City Hall on the project.