Tallinn central mall area a step closer to being finished
The Ministry of Finance approved the detailed plan of the quarter in between the two main central shopping malls in the Estonian capitals. The quarter includes the areas between Estonia pst, Kaubamaja, Rävala pst. and Teatri väljak.
Head of Tallinn's Urban Planning Department Ivari Rannamaa said that now when the Ministry of Finance has approved the plan, the city government can establish the plan soon. Before, certain agreements need to be reached with the landowners.
If earlier it was planned to partially take the section of Estonia pst, between Tammsaare Park and the former Academy of Arts, underground, as of now this plan has been abandoned. An underground street would have been created in the form of a car tunnel, through which the underground floors of the buildings in the quarter would have been accessible.
"Currently, in this sense, this solution proves that the plan can be realized without this tunnel. So it can be accessed from the ground by Rävala pst, not from the tunnel," Rannamaa said.
The construction of houses is also changing. For example, the plan provides an opportunity to renovate and expand existing buildings and to build additional buildings of up to eight floors and one to 12 floors. However, an extension will be completed in the library of Tallinn University.
"Certainly it will bring more life to the city center. There are both commercial and office buildings and public buildings will have more room. It is also partly residential, it is a mixed-use quarter. It certainly supports this activation of the city center, so that all services and facilities are at near. Tammsaare Park is also available as a green area. In that sense, yes, it certainly carries that idea," Rannamaa.
The head of the Urban Planning Department could not yet predict when the construction will actually start in the quarter. He said that given how long the process has been taking already, it will take a little longer.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino