Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar

Construction of a hotel in the buffer zone of the World Heritage property, not in conformity with provisions of the Master Plan, which was part of the Management Plan included in the nomination file. 

Total amount provided to the property: USD 190,000

The State Party informed the World Heritage Centre on 9 January 2007 about the establishment of a group of experts to examine the situation and find alternative solutions in conformity with the Vienna Memorandum (2005) and the Management Plan of the World Heritage property.

The State Party informed the World Heritage Centre on 31 January 2007 that:

a) The hotel’s investor is in possession of a 2004 permit from the Municipality for reconstruction, extension, and enlargement of the hotel;

b) The works for the construction of the hotel were suspended immediately upon receipt of Decision 30 COM 7B.82 of the World Heritage Committee;

c) The Management Plan will be applied in the nominated area and buffer zones. The funds required to develop in detail all components of the Master Plan, which is part of the Management Plan, have been approved;

d) The process of drafting alternative designs for the hotel has been initiated. An alternative design has been produced and was submitted to the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS for review. However, the Commission to Preserve National Monuments concluded that this design is not in accordance with the Committee’s decision and would not represent a final and satisfactory solution. For that reason, the State Party requested UNESCO’s assistance to fully implement Decision 30 COM 7B.82, to continue to search for a suitable alternative solution for the hotel to be presented to the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee, and to provide further expertise and technical assistance until a final and satisfactory solution has been achieved.

The alternative design that has been produced included renovation of the green buffer zone around the construction, introduction of green areas on all the levels of the structure, enrichment of frontage walls, and changes to the frontage textures. The dimensions of the upper floors structure have been diminished, the swimming pool complex had its surface scaled down and its roof removed and a number of rooms on the last floors of two blocks were removed. The whole structure was reduced by a total of 1.766 square metres of enclosed space. These considerable efforts must be acknowledged. However, despite the reduction of space in the revised design and the introduction of green areas, the current project does not fully address the visual impacts of the structure, in conformity with the land use provisions of the Master Plan and Management Plan.

The State Party also reported on the activities of the “Stari Grad” Agency in 2006, responsible for the preservation of the World Heritage property and the implementation of the Management Plan.