In progress the demolition of the former post office building on Savski Square, in order to build a cultural object in its place, which will have the form and facade of the original building designed by the architect Momir Korunović, they claim from Belgrade on the water.
Demolition began on December 11 last year, until now almost half of the building has disappeared, and there is nothing to say that the new one will really have Korunović's facade as agreed.
The fate of the Post Office at Savska 2 is determined by the planning documentation for the area where the Belgrade on the Water project is being developed, which provides for the preservation of this facility.
"Beograd na vodi" insists all the time that they will strictly adhere to the law.
"The procedure for the thorough reconstruction of the Old Post Office building will take place in accordance with all legal, safety and environmental standards, and the deadline for the completion of the works is the end of 2026." After the completion of the works, both the building and the plot on which it is located will retain the status of public property."
Facade
According to the announcements of "Belgrade on the water", the form of the building and the facade were "reconstructed from the original projects available in the archives, and the parts that did not exist in the archive material were designed based on photographs of the original building".
Sanja Solarević, councilor of the Green-Left Front in the Savski venac Municipal Assembly, tells the "Vremena" portal that in the location conditions from 15.07.2024/XNUMX/XNUMX. stated that "the conceptual solution is the planned removal of the existing building and the construction of the Cultural Center, as well as that the outer membrane is designed in the form and dimensions, according to the original drawings of the architect Momir Korunović, with special reference to the original plastic and ornamentation from the original building."
Then, in the construction permit dated 09.12.2024. it says that the demolition project has also been submitted. Sanja Solarević states that "it was made by Mašinoprojekt Kopring AD, which also worked on the urban project that planned the demolition of the Old Post Office under the guise of reconstruction."
In the construction permit, it is stated that the estimated value of the planned works is 2.761.923.629,62 dinars, which is about 23,6 million euros. The investor is the Republic of Serbia and the financier is Belgrade na vodi doo.
Based on the available documents, it is possible to conclude "that the existing building of the Old Post Office will be demolished. Judging by the pictures from the Beobuild forum, it seems that the original Korunović facade has been preserved as much as possible under the facade that was made during the previous reconstruction. "It seems that they will build a new building modeled after the building they are demolishing, and it will cost the citizens 23,6 million euros," says Sanja Solarević.
What will be inside?
In December, "Belgrade on the Water" announced that the new building will house an Archaeological Museum and two theater stages. The Minister of Culture, Nikola Selaković, first announced the Children's Museum and Theater with Two Stages on May 18 last year on the occasion of International Museum Day, and then towards the end of December Archaeological Museum.
Before that, it was said that the new-old post office will house creatives who were expelled from BIGZ, a children's stage and a children's cultural center, a library, the stage of the "Boško Buha" Theater...
"According to the urban planning project, the Cultural Center has only one-fifth of its contents intended for culture, while the majority of the purpose of the building is for commercial contents. This means that the Old Post Office will be demolished in order to build a new shopping center in Belgrade on the water, although it was presented to the public that the building will have cultural contents," explains Sanja Solarević.
In the announcement issued at the beginning of the works, they said the following:
"The Old Post Office building on the Sava square, within Belgrade on the water, will soon be completely reconstructed, and after the completion of the works that have been started, the once monumental building will be restored to its original, luxurious appearance from 1929, when it was built in the Serbian-Byzantine period style. The masterpiece of the famous Serbian architect Momir Korunović will be revived after decades of neglect thanks to the Belgrade Watefront company, which will restore it to its recognizable shine from before the Second World War, during which it was mostly damaged. Thus, Belgrade will once again have one of the most beautiful pre-war buildings, which was often found on postcards of the Serbian capital."
