Lukiškių Memorial short of heritage rules – Cultural Heritage Dept

Algimantas Degutis, deputy director of the department, told BNS on Tuesday that the memorial project, which resembles a hill and a guerrilla bunker, violates the 2010 conclusion of the Immovable Cultural Heritage Council, which suggests that the Lukiškių Square in central Vilnius should be flat.

“We only found from the media what was selected. As far as I remember, the square should feature a flat surface, therefore, there is some contradiction. How can this be solved? There could not be a project that runs counter to the valuable characteristics. A flat surface of a valuable characteristic. It means that a memorial could not emerge, if it violates the valuable characteristics,” Degutis told BNS.

He said the experts would probably be proposed to reconsider the issue of the Lukiškių Square.

The project by sculptor Andrius Labašauskas, which involves a hill facing the Gedimino Avenue, triumphed in a competition of five entries and was picked by a team of experts and a public survey on Monday. The author said his idea was to make the Lukiškių Square next to Gedimino Avenue an open area, with the idea of freedom embodied by playing children and picnicking people.

The memorial in the reconstructed Lukiškių Square should be built by Dec. 1 of next year for up to 500,000 euros earmarked by the Culture Ministry, with the construction work to be done by the Vilnius Municipality.

Discussions on the future of the square have been in progress since Lithuania regained independence in 1990 and removed the Lenin sculpture from the square.

Guerrilla movement against the Soviet occupation continued in Lithuania in 1944-1953.