The manor house in Rusovce. (source: Sme)
The reconstruction of Rusovce manor house, a neo-Gothic edifice located in the Bratislava borough of Rusovce, should be completed by the end of 2029, at a cost estimated at almost €110 million. Ministers approved the resumption of reconstruction works on Wednesday, June 12. The total estimated cost has risen by 14.5 percent, or almost €14 million, since 2019, when financing for the reconstruction was previously approved by a government resolution.
“The increase takes into account the high inflation rate over the past five years and the related increase in energy, labour and material prices,” wrote the Government Office, which submitted the proposal.
The Government Office should seek the money to cover the financial difference via alternative sources of financing, such as available funds in the Recovery and Resilience Plan or other EU funds.
The reconstruction of the manor house, which was once the home of Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, widow of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, and her second husband, Elemér Lónyay, plus the adjacent area, should be completed within 54 months.
The goal of reconstructing Rusovce manor house is to restore the facility so that it can be used for representative purposes, while at the same time making it accessible to the public.
Manor house belongs to the government
The head of the Government Office, Juraj Gedra, warned that the process will not be easy, due to the nature of the building's construction and a number of other challenges. The manor house is a protected historical monument. He noted that an external team will also take care of the necessary contract updates and construction processes.
“It is important to note that six years have passed since the project was drawn up, many of the technological processes are now completely different, so we will have to update individual things within the technical and construction plan,” he explained.
The signing of the contract with the winner of the tender should take place within the next few days, and the actual start of reconstruction within a few weeks.
The manor house is under the administration of the Government Office. The reconstruction plan was approved by the then cabinet in August 2012. The tender for the work was announced in mid December 2019, but the procedure was hampered by several proceedings regarding objections filed during individual tender stages. The Public Procurement Office (ÚVO) repeatedly examined various objections to the tender assessment, but turned down all of them.
