DRUSKININKAI - Nowadays the streets of Druskininkai are lit at night, but this wasn't always the case.
In the past four years this town of 25,000 inhabitants deep in southern Lithuania has brought itself back from the brink of oblivion - restoring its ancient status as the region's premiere spa resort while improving the economic lot of its residents.
Situated on a bend of the River Nemunas, Druskininkai has been renowned for centuries because of the high mineral content of the water that gurgles up from natural springs in and around town. While Druskininkai's fate rose and fell with the currents of history that swept over its corner of Eastern Europe, Lithuanian independence proved to be especially unkind.
As opposed to Soviet times, when an entire sanatorium was constructed exclusively for the use of the Communist Party elite, the archaic system of ownership of the town's strategic objects and Soviet connotations worked to its detriment during the 1990s. By 2000, mismanagement and hard luck looked as if they would deliver Druskininkai the final death-blow.
"It was to the point where every day we would wait for something else to close," recounted Deputy Mayor Kristina Miski-niene, whose Social Democratic-led municipal government took power in 2000 at the town's nadir.
Indeed, one by one, Druskininkai's hotels and spas-the town's lifeblood-filed bankruptcy, their union owners no longer able to finance debts incurred by the plummeting number of visitors. Unemployment skyrocketed to over 30 percent, and to add insult to injury, the state railroad halted service to Druskininkai, depriving the town of its only means of obtaining heating fuel.
Even the movie theater-the only one around for miles-closed.
"The streets were basically empty. I remember it was such a strange feeling: You'd be walking along at night, there's no one around, and everything's dark because the municipality didn't even have enough money to pay for the street lighting," said Alma Matuleviciene, director of the Violeta Hotel.
Bankrupt, cold and gloomy, the Druskininkai of 2000 hardly inspired the visitor traffic it once enjoyed.
"But then we decided there was nowhere to go but up," said Miskiniene.
Surrounded by shells of empty buildings and idle workers, Druskininkai's municipal government decided to take action.
In a daring and aggressive pilot scheme, municipal leaders convinced the Health Ministry, which owned many of the dilapidated properties, and labor unions, which owned many more, to transfer their property to the city. With property and strategic objects in its portfolio, the city government embarked on a dual program of renovation and sell-off as it reconstructed certain buildings while finding committed investors for others.
Slowly, the city's efforts breathed new life into the tired yet proud town.
"We knew we had to take matters into our own hands. For government officials sitting in Vilnius, what difference does it make if some hotel they own 100 kilometers away closes? But for us, it's a catastrophe: Where else are we going to live if not here?" said Miskiniene.
Druskininkai's fate turned an important corner in April 2003 with the opening of the renovated Health Center, which is owned by the municipality. Situated in the very heart of the city, the Health Center offers hundreds of healing procedures, from turpentine baths to underwater massages to the fantastically popular mud baths.
With a modern facility offering the services that once made Druskininkai famous, visitors finally had a reason to come back, proving the wisdom of the municipality's investment of 7.5 million litas (2.2 million euros) in the center.
"We were really happy when the center opened. It's very convenient for our guests," said Matuleviciene.
At present no less than 10 hotels are under renovation in Druskininkai-with more to come.
Moreover, the municipality has undertaken numerous infrastructure projects that will eventually make the city more livable while attracting more tourists. Mayor Ricardas Malinauskas recently sealed a deal with neighboring Belarus to begin directly importing natural gas for the city's heating needs, while a project funded by EU Ispa funds will soon transform a sagging building in the city center into a flashy indoor water park.
The recently reopened Vilnius Wellness and Rehabilitation Center is emblematic of the transformation of the city's tourism industry.
Vilnius, which occupies a formerly monolithic building that housed a "gynecological sanatorium" in Soviet times, bills itself as a world-class spa resort. Employing a team of seven physicians and a slew of other health workers, Vilnius' gleaming, Scandinavian interior exudes an air of contemporary sophistication that seems light-years away from its Soviet legacy.
"You wouldn't believe what this room used to be used for," said Vilius Rekevicius, Vilnius' public relations director, while standing in one of the hotel's luxury rooms.
"There used to be just one television per floor for the guests, so they would congregate in this room to watch it," he recounted.
In spite of the ebullient optimism spreading around town, everyone realizes much work remains. Hulking, gray edifices still pepper the town's landscape, and the once-renowned city park wallows in a state of sad disrepair.
And while Druskininkai's increased economic activity has slashed the unemployment rate from 30.4 to 20.5 percent in just under three years, the region's jobless rate is still among Lithuania's highest, and many of the new jobs are low-paying.
Andrius, an activities organizer at one of the new spas, remains realistic about the town's renaissance.
"When all the hotels closed, I lost my job. And even now that I've been rehired, my salary is lower than it used to be. But at least there's work," he said.
Nonetheless, Druskininkai's radical transformation stands as a palpable reminder of how shrewd management and a clear common vision can bring about positive change.
"If there's one piece of advice I'd give to other municipal governments, it's that the only way to make things better is by taking charge yourself. If you don't want your own city to get better, no one else is going to be knocking down the door to change things for you," said Miskiniene.
