Lithuanian airports will demolish more than 70 buildings: a 60-hectare area will be opened next to Kaunas airport

As stated, the main focus this year will be on the 60-hectare areas near the Kaunas airport, which were used for military purposes in Soviet times and are currently abandoned.

After the implementation of the project, it is expected not only to safely order the old military buildings and other obsolete and abandoned buildings, but also to turn the territories into attractive and suitable spaces for business development.

In total, during the implementation of the project, the contractors (4 companies will operate in different parts of the project, in different airports) undertake to demolish more than 70 buildings located on the territories of the branches of the Vilnius, Palanga and Kaunas airports. Most of it is planned at the Kaunas branch; it is planned to administer the territories in the northern and southern parts.

According to the person in charge of the Kaunas airport, Karolis Matulaitis, in these territories, which occupy an area of ​​around 8 football fields in total, there will be military buildings built during the Soviet era and now completely abandoned. On one side was a city of soldiers, and on the other side of the airport was a missile base, at the time a military object, which was highly classified.

Today, according to K. Matulaitis, collapsing buildings not only damage the environment, but also represent a potential threat to human health, which is why they are marked with signs that prohibit any visit to them.

“We want to demolish dangerous objects, which no longer serve any function and are not fit for any other purpose, at the initiative and with funds from Lithuanian airports, and manage the territory itself in principle. Preparations for this step have been made over many years, because the abandoned territories simply mean untapped potential, ”says K. Matulaitis.

The director of the Kaunas airport plans to make the territory an attractive location for business infrastructure development after the project is implemented.

“Ordering the large areas outside airports could revitalize them and strengthen the commercial infrastructure. Such a conversion could benefit a wide range of companies and businesses interested in settling in attractive accesses to airports. Without a doubt, the services they provide they will bring more added value to both the company and the region ”, hopes K. Matulaitis.

In the first half of this year, the project to clean up pollution from a part of the 3-year-old former military territory was completed and implemented together with the Kaunas District Municipality.