New skyline planned for Capital

  • 2008-04-09
  • By Yury Sogis

SCENIC SKYSCRAPER: Vilnius' picturesque skyline is threatened by a huge number of companies requesting exceptions to the building law in order to construct high-rises in the city center.

VILNIUS - The Vilnius City Council has been overwhelmed by building permit applications from businesses wishing to erect highrises in this historic city.
Trying to withhold the paper onslaught, the city has clearly mapped the territory where skyscrapers indeed will be allowed to appear, the Delfi online news portal reported. The rest of the city will be closed for high-rise construction.

The Vilnius general development concept outlines two areas where buildings higher than 35 meters may be erected. This area includes the right bank of the Neris river along Konstitucijos prospect and the area around the Press House.

In the past, there were numerous areas where businesses could file for the permit to put additional floors on existing structures. The old rules caused a considerable snowball effect, however, as applicants requesting exceptions threatened to drastically change the sky line of the city.

Vilnius vice-mayor Evaldas Lementauskas said the new rules will effectively narrow down the territory where skyscrapers are allowed to be built in Vilnius.

The thrust of the new concept is to localize high-rise construction to avoid harm to the historic center skyline. But the concept is not cast in stone, and several other zones further away from downtown Vilnius may be designated for high-rises. These zones include the so called Northtown neighborhood, Ukmerges street and the Vingis park area.