August 4, 2020 - The City of Split has announced they will begin the renovation of seven traditional stone houses in the Marjan park-forest, which were used to store tools and shelter people and animals during storms.

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that the estimated value is HRK 700,000 without VAT, or HRK 875,000 with VAT included. This is a 50 percent increase in costs compared to the 2017 estimate of HRK 501,375, which was stated in the application documents for the EU project "Marjan 2020 - Hill of the Past, Oasis of the Future".

The application document (form B) for the Marjan 2020 project was signed on April 28, 2017, by Robert Koharevic, former director of the Public Institution for Marjan Park and Forest Management, and the city councilors from the opposition managed to get it after a lot of pressure on city structures. 

The document states that the houses will be of educational content and show visitors traditional folk architecture. But later, at the presentation of the project, it was noted that they would be used to sell souvenirs. The obvious location for this purpose is the Visitor Center, which has been adapted outside the park-forest, in the former substation under the Marjan rocks, near the former hotel "Ambasador".

However, in form B, it is stated that due to the revitalization of the botanical garden, the houses will be converted into souvenir shops. 

Namely, the project, according to which Marjan ceases to be a "hill of the past" and becomes an "oasis of the future", envisages that around 2.4 million kuna is earned annually from the sale of souvenirs. Thus, for the next 11 years, that is a total of about 26 million kuna in earnings, which is approximately the total budget of this project!

Interestingly, the earnings from souvenirs are considered more profitable than the annual earnings that would be realized from the transport of visitors by electric bus (452,000 kuna), transport by new boat that would bring tourists (875,000 kuna), tickets for the adrenaline park (565,000 kuna) and concessions for the paintball field (30,000 kuna).

The annual income from these services would be 1.9 million kuna, which is about 400 thousand less than what would allegedly be sold from souvenirs.

However, there are no Marjan souvenirs that would ensure the profitability of the project yet. Or at least we haven't seen them yet.

Namely, according to the EU program, the competition for souvenirs and their presentation was to be held by June 2019 for 80,000 kuna.

During this period, "designing 3 site-specific souvenirs" had to be done. It was also necessary to "make one special souvenir that will contain the text in Braille". In addition to the above, it is calculated that "T-shirts, USBs and the like as souvenirs and a reminder to visit the park-forest" will be sold at the Visitor Center on Trumbiceva obala, at the foot of the Marjan steps.

Recall that in 2019, a vessel for the transport of visitors had to be procured, the price of which, according to the documentation, is 3.75 million kuna for an electric or solar-powered vehicle , as well as an electric bus for a little over one million kuna.

The EU project Marjan 2020 will create more jobs in the park-forest. For this, it is necessary to hire seven people indefinitely - an electric bus driver, skipper and sailor who will operate the electric/solar boat, informants and sellers of various park-forest facilities, while over the summer, two more people are expected to help. The botanical garden would employ the head of the interpretation center and one gardener. HRK 1.26 million should be allocated annually for all employees, while the total annual project costs would amount to HRK 3.7 to 4.3 million.

In the best years, which is the first few years, the project would bring in 800,000 kuna per year, while after that, it would drop, and after seven years, it would drop to 400,000 per year. In the 11th year, it would amount to only 25 thousand! It is clear that such a calculation significantly depends on the sale of souvenirs. Namely, the profit that would be realized from their sale should amount to more than 50 percent of total revenues.

That is, souvenirs would have to bring in 2.4 million kuna every year so that the total annual income of the project would be around 4.3 million. However, the profit would be the highest at the beginning of the project.

The planned investments of the City, the Split Tourist Board and the Public Institution were around 6.6 million kuna, while the total return of money (cumulative) after ten years would amount to approximately 6.2 million.

It is interesting that in the same document, it was calculated that the City would be in a substantial deficit of 13 million kuna after 11 years, if it invested everything itself, or that it embarked on such a project without EU assistance.

But even with EU assistance, the project is walking a thin line in terms of sustainability as total souvenir earnings in 11 years (26 million) should be higher than 75 percent of grants received from the EU. Can souvenirs, which are yet to be made, save this project from losses?

Whether this Marjan project has the potential and magnetism to attract tourists remains to be seen.

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August 8, 2019 - Split's 'green lungs,' Marjan hill, has been under treatment since March. A look at the forest park before and after the rehabilitation to remove the bark beetle infestation. 

At the July session of the Split City Council, Mayor Andro Krstulović Opara, Nenad Ružić, Mate Omazić, and Dragan Brtan informed the councilors about the rehabilitation of the Marjan Park Forest since it has been under treatment for the infestation of the bark beetle. The president of the Marjan Task Force, Nenad Ružić, then revealed details of the first phase of rehabilitation, reports Dalmacija Danas.

“I can say that the works on Marjan are over. Everything was cut down that needed to be cut. Now we are waiting for the situation to be monitored and observed. The bark beetle in most of the landscape is in a drastic decline, though it is still in some areas.”

After the summer, when the bark beetle is calmed, we will see the real situation. Technically speaking, the Matima company has established 90 wire lines. That’s how many were needed to get to every tree. Exactly 12,790 cubic meters of wood, or 38,000 trees, were removed, both dry and infected. In addition to Matima, city services and companies were also involved,” said Nenad Ružić, among others.

Summer is slowly nearing its end, and in a few months, we will know if this significant intervention in the Marjan forest did indeed result in the eradication of the pest. However, in the meantime, we are left wiht the last aerial shots of Split thanks to Google Earth.

Zooming in on the Marjan Park Forest area, it's not hard to notice the impact the rehabilitation has had in the last few months, giving us a look into the reality of the figures spoken by Nenad Ružić.

Below, you can find a comparison of the forest before and after the first rehabilitation phase.

Before

After

Recall, before the rehabilitation, Marjan had more than 120,000 trees, 30 percent of which have been cut. Many people in Split believe that Marjan will never be the same again.

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The Society of Marjan revealed on Tuesday morning that the City of Split canceled the tender for an adrenaline park on Marjan, precisely in the Bene area, reports Dalmacija Danas on April 9, 2019. 

Soon after their announcement, the City of Split announced:

"After yesterday's talks with the stakeholders of the Marjan Park Forest and representatives of the civil society under the leadership of the 'Our Marjan' initiative, in order to further harmonize all misunderstandings, the City of Split decided to temporarily annul the procurement procedure of the Adrenaline park for climbers planned in the area of Bene. The acquisition of the adrenaline park will take place after the reconciliation of the foreseen micro-location, which will also least intervene with the natural habitat of the Marjan Forest Park.

Please note that the City of Split remains committed to the fact that Marjan is a living room and the main recreational zone of all our citizens, as well as numerous climbers and children who are engaged in sports climbing, who are eagerly awaiting the first of such content in our city. According to the procurement plan of the project, the works of the construction of the adrenaline park will be carried out as soon as possible, following the pace of the rehabilitation of the Marjan forest from the bark beetle. 

The preservation and revitalization of our Marjan needs to remain our only goal, and we can only come to it through the joint and unified action of all stakeholders,” the City of Split said on Tuesday morning.

Recall, as part of the project "Marjan 2020 - a hill of the past, an oasis of the future", last week, the City of Split initiated the public procurement procedure for the construction of setting up a demountable adrenaline park.

The location of the future adrenaline park would be located east of the bay of Bene, where it is easier set up more compatible content, such as paintball, picnic areas, and a bocce ball court. Marjan Forest Park does not currently feature an adrenaline park, although the program is fully compatible with the recreational character of the space, the City of Split said.

The goal was to make quality moves with minimal interventions in the natural heritage - putting the entire previously devastated infrastructure into the function of new growth, development, employment, as well as improving the overall sustainability and the biodiversity of the Marjan Forest Park.

The installation of the demountable adrenaline park was said to be in line with the project activities of the School of Multilingual Development and Sporting Facilities of Marjan.

The project would directly affect the increase in the number of visitors and tourists through targeted content, activities, products and infrastructure, and bring Marjan glory and recognizability in Croatia and the world as one of the main symbols of the City of Split, the City added. The estimated value of the works for the new adrenaline park is 554.800,00 kuna (without VAT).

You can see all the planned projects for Marjan here. 

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A wonderful new initiative to ensure Marjan always remains the green lungs of our city. 

The Ministry of Tourism has awarded 137,000 HRK for this project.

Day of Marjan will take place this Sunday, May 14th will a full program of events.

"Marjan - A Symbol and Inspiration” is a photography exhibition that will be held at the end of this year in an effort to emphasize the need to preserve the natural and cultural heritage of Marjan.