Culture

The centuries-old monument is far from functional, there is no work without a detailed project

Mile Qorri coffee

From the attempts to restore it, the decision to demolish it and its reconstruction, they have accompanied the history of the monument near the old building of the Municipality of Pristina, which dates back to 1925.

The last attempt to restore the monument between Prishtina, which was known as the "House of Llaziqi", and then the "Kafja e Mile Qorri", is about to get an epilogue, even though the projects to restore it have entered the second decade, and the functionalization is far away . Even a last attempt has come with problems, as it started working without a detailed plan. The works were being done based on the conceptual project that was approved by the Kosovo Institute for the Protection of Monuments

It is on the verge of turning a century, but the monument in the central part of Pristina does not have any function. Adjacent to the building of the Municipality of Pristina, built in 1925, the building known as "Llaziqi's House", then "Kafja e Mile Qorri" - while now the state protects it as a residential house with owner Gazmend Abrashin, the businessman who bought it years ago – remains closed. Several attempts to restore and repurpose it have failed. The last one recently, while the project remains under re-evaluation. 

The next restoration attempt has been stopped by the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate. At the end of March, the works were stopped after they had started based on the approval of an idea project. According to the decision of the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate, in March of this year the officials of the Regional Center of Cultural Heritage found that "the demolition and breaking of the walls has started". The same had notified the Inspectorate that the works were being done based on the conceptual project that was approved by the Kosovo Institute for the Protection of Monuments. The inspectors would find that "renovation works were continuing inside the premises of the house, despite the fact that they did not have a main project approved by IKMM". On the same day, March 14, the works were stopped through a protocol. A stop-work sign was posted, which continues to be in front of the building. But the work did not stop even in practice. On the 19th day of March, the inspectors would go to the scene again. 

"On the same day, we went to the inspection where the presence of workers, the progress of the works inside the house, specifically the work on the stairs, other construction materials were left ready to continue with other works", is written in the reasoning part of the decision. . A record was also issued prohibiting the works. 

KOHA has communicated with the officials of the Kosovo Institute for the Protection of Monuments, who have confirmed that the project has been submitted for review with some changes and it is expected that it will be reviewed these days. While, Gazmend Abrashi, who appears as the owner of the monument in the List of cultural heritage under temporary protection, has not been pronounced. The history of this building is old. 
In 2015, the Ministry of Culture issued a decision allowing the owner to demolish the building in order to build it in the same form as it is. But a few months later, MKRS regretted it. At that time, the Minister of Culture, Kujtim Shala, on the recommendation of the Regional Center of Cultural Heritage in Pristina, withdrew from the decision he had signed in August 2015. It had revoked it in June 2016. According to the QRTK, the reconstruction was not done with the same material. 

The owner of the house, businessman Gazmend Abrashi, at that time had explained the whole procedure until the approval of the project, but had not commented on the annulment of the decision. He said that while he was at the end of the administrative procedures in the Municipality of Pristina for obtaining the construction permit, he was informed that the then Minister of Culture, Kujtim Shala, declared the decision to reconstruct the building invalid. 

Abrashi explained that, being aware that the "House of Llaziq" is on the List of cultural heritage under temporary protection, he has tried to preserve it since he has been its owner. 

"For these reasons, I bought the house, as a supporter and fanatic of cultural heritage. Moreover, in 2008 I presented the project for its renovation, which project was passed and was approved by the Directorate of Urbanism of the Municipality of Pristina with decision no. 05-350-3284, for the renovation of the house, and the decision dated 01.09.2008, of the Institute of Monuments and the Regional Museum of Pristina, where the renovation of this house was allowed", said Abrashi.  

According to him, all the works were carried out with the utmost care according to the instructions and supervision from the Institute, investing considerable financial resources to return the house to a better and more stable form. 

"But these investments have turned out to be useless and unsustainable due to the age and poor stability of the house. Since the house was in a bad condition and dangerous for use, as well as based on the report of the QRTK in Prishtina, where it is established that the physical condition of the building is at a high degree of damage from external natural factors, to to avoid ad-hoc and unprofessional evaluations, I engaged a professional company to evaluate the stability of the object", said Abrashi. According to him, the report unfortunately concludes that the building as such does not meet the conditions of stability for use and that it presents a potential risk to human life and economic assets. He said that in order to preserve the values ​​of the cultural heritage, as well as to preserve the memory of the center of Pristina, he submitted the request for the reconstruction of the object.  

"Which means the new construction of the object based on the existing condition, preserving all the elements of the object that present value. Since according to experts, the values ​​of this monument are found only in the frontal part, and based on the cases treated earlier where the reconstruction method was used and the possibility of interpolation, we have compiled the project with which these values ​​will be carefully preserved, while in on the northwest side, we planned to have interpolation, in the part where we have the existing basement. This project has been approved by the Commission for the review of conservation and restoration projects", said Abrashi. He had said: "as a supporter of cultural heritage, he guarantees with full responsibility that he will strictly respect any decision that will come from the Kosovo Institute for the Protection of Monuments".  

The object in the List of cultural heritage under temporary protection appears as "Residential house (Gazmend Abrashi) and has serial number 608, while it has a unique number in the database 3512. The object is known by the people of Pristina as "Kafja e Mile Qorri". During the 90s, this facility was known as a refuge for Serbian nationalists. After the war, the building functioned as a restaurant and teahouse. Traces of "Caffe grill Prishtina" can still be seen on the ground floor of the building, which in this part has a bright red color that was put on it at this time. And on the second floor, the building still preserves details of the time when it was built. Two sculptural figures point the finger at each other at the top of the building.  

In February 2012, the newspaper reported that the Municipality of Pristina had suspended the status of this object, not giving an answer to the owner for his request for restoration. At that time, the object was not on the List of cultural heritage under temporary protection, but it was on a 1994 list.