The new life of antique Salona

In the July issue of “Banka“, which is a Croatian financial and business magazine there is an article published about the Salona project. This magazine is a jubilee issue, dedicated to Croatia entering the European Union and becoming the 28 member country.

In the scope of the situation for Croatia, there is an interview covering 12 pages with Prime Minister Zoran Milanović, as well as interviews with significant actors of public institutions related to the new EU regulations.

The listing of pre ascension and future projects for structural funds begins with the presentation of the Salona project preparation, displaying the preparation efforts of the Croatian Ministry of Culture. This showcase project is being prepared with support from Bearing and Loncaric-Planic.

Also other projects of cultural-tourism are presented in the issue:

• Maškovića Han,
• The Moise palace,
• Eco museum in Blace,
• the Rikard Benčić complex,
• the fortress of Osijek,
• The St. Nikola fort,
• the folk museum in Zadar

….and many other in preparation that are in a short period to be evaluated in the Ministry of Culture for being suitable for whether national, regional or local level.

The project of Salona is prepared to be an integrated project for EU structural funds, with Salona´s important cultural heritage site being at the core of the project.

Salona was one of the greatest antique and early Christian archaeological towns, founded by the Romans as the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia with Salonitana harbour being one of the most significant antique harbours on the Adriatic.

The Roman town of Salona covered an 82 hectare area and was flanked with 4 km of fortification walls.

The preparation of the project is in the pre-feasibility stage where the most important task is to identify the project partners and other initial stakeholders that are dedicated to project vision and fulfilment, not only for defining the application for structural funds but also to implement the finances into the project and to agree on the vision and values to be gained.

In this process Bearing is working together with the local architecture consulting firm Loncaric-Planic, a specialist in cultural heritage planning.

We aim to not only implement our know-how of project preparation for structural funds but also to include Bearings place management concepts for assuring the sustainability of the Salona archaeological site at the core of renewed economic development and growth of regional tourist industry businesses.

Therefore, Salona is to be considered with the contact area and in the scope of its potential influence on the city of Split and wider middle Dalmatia region.

Also, in this pre-feasibility stage of Salona project public and private interests are asked to contribute project ideas that really are creating the commonly accepted direction towards the economical growth of the town Solin.

As a consequence, the wider regional impact of presenting Salona archaeological site is expected to enhance the regional tourism industry.

Integrated elements in the Salona project are a listing in the UNESCO world heritage list, spatial and horticultural presentation of the location, new museum building, a new international archaeological academy that is going to start as the first of the kind in the region.

Other elements includes  development of the Salonitana harbour, the historical entrance in Salona with a centre for nautical tourism, and also an antique pharmacy and other craft presentation like wine production, shipbuilding and education, and the construction of a light railway infrastructure to the centre of nearby of Split.

Salona, being planned as an an integrated project, has to be conceptualised in the field of action planning into tranches to enable the smooth documentation preparation and to foresee the financing through structural funds and proceeding with private investments.

The Salona project preparation is a complex task for all the participants also because of the rather new EU framework of the EU Horizon 2020 strategy, beginning on January 1st 2014 and is new to all EU member countries.

Croatia has to justify the substantial financial support allocated to its growth for the period from 2014-2020 by planning and executing excellent projects. This is a challenging task and we are honoured to be involved to help.

It is also for Croatia a period of substantial, tectonic changes and adjustments that could provide a role model for other countries in the Balkan region on their way to EU membership. The potentials of the growth and social development of the country are substantial and it is about its citizens, institutions and investors to lead and take the path!