The holy entrepreneurs try to resist another challenge: part of it has entered the epicenter of construction

A big celebration of St. John’s Day is coming up in Šventoji, bonfires will be lit on Alka Hill and the fire will illuminate the mouth of the river. And the entire territory of the port is fenced off. This causes inconvenience to both resort residents and vacationers.

People say that the works in the port have not been carried out for a third month, they are only preparing to start. The works are being carried out only in a 50-space car park near the port, near which it is said that a hangar for pleasure boats will also be built.

Escaped Old Town Klaipeda

According to the small businessmen of the complex, it might be possible to open the doors of the port on the occasion of a public holiday or on weekends when there is no work. They are considering if those works could not have been faster, perhaps in the middle of the summer it would have been possible to remove some of the fences.

“Some need to build a large port, and others, who have withstood the two waves of ‘fighting’, survive the third wave, the construction of an object of national importance. I do not think it is necessary to close roads when it is not necessary”, says businessman Tomas Sipavičius, who has worked at Šventoji for 18. He has worked in the entertainment industry for a long time and this year marks the third year of running his own business.

T. Sipavičius is from Rokiškis, but he has lived in Klaipėda for a long time, and now for five years, in Palanga. He says he lived in the old town of Klaipeda and was “stuck” with small courtyards and built streets. By the way, he is also the director of the Klaipėda Small Youth Theater. According to him, the theater is experiencing downtime, as only a number of people can participate in events that are not worth organizing, because the rental price of the rooms has remained the same.

Even the “jars” are already inhabited

The work in the port became visible in the spring. Even the empty and abandoned buildings on the peninsula for many years, the so-called jars, were finally ordered and revived when they were acquired by SEB’s real estate company, Litectus. Sventoji residents say they are equipped with luxury apartments for sale. People started settling in them this year. The first inhabitants appeared already in spring.

“Now everything is here, but when it’s okay, it’ll be okay.

Maybe then it will be easier for tourists to buy fish, maybe what kind of supermarket they will build. Now you have to go straight to the fisherman. We know the fishermen, we have no problems. They have flounder, halibut, grundal, ”said Audronė from Šventoji.

Findings and fences

Located entirely on the outskirts of the port, the “Gangster grill terasa” bar and restaurant, owned by T. Sipavičius, has visibly found itself at the epicenter of construction after fencing off the port territory.

As a result of construction, the bar lost its parking lot upon entering the construction zone. I also had to give up the “Beach Stop”, which sold fast food. The businessman says he did it after realizing that construction needs a little patience.

According to the owner of the bar, there are already visitors, but so far they are only served outdoors. As the bar has a very good grill, visitors still find it behind the fences.

“People come to us who no longer ask for a menu. Of course, due to the construction works, we felt a decrease in the flow of visitors, but this is normal, in our calculations it should have been. Maybe next year it will double or even triple, but I would love to see it next year.

Even more so when some ministries cry out loud in supporting small businesses, especially cafes, bars and restaurants, which have been hit hard. Because our work is seasonal, we have not received any government support. We received a response that we opened 5 days after the announcement of the quarantine, so we no longer have support. While outdoors we experienced downtime that we ticked off, packed take out, paid taxes. Fortunately, the new government scrapped the debts for a month so that we could get out of them. However, our mountain got steeper with the arrival of construction fences. Be that as it may, I am in favor of renewing the Santo, but so that it remains green and has the same spirit, “said businessman Tom.

Pressed in the corner

“They’re cornering us because of some bent stuff and pretty biased decisions.

We knew there would be drawbacks, we understood the need, but we hoped they would understand us too. That we can advertise a little further from the port so that people can find us and come. Unfortunately, we can only do it from that angle (sample: paste automatically), and then not. But we are not giving up, although it is very difficult to stand on foot as the quarantine is coming to an end, maybe we will hand out flyers to vacationers, we will take other measures.

In a word, we are preparing for the summer. I think people who have been used to visiting the fisherman’s daughters or the beaches of Šventoji for twenty years will definitely find their way this year too – the harbor fences will not be an insurmountable obstacle for them, ”said the owner of the bar. Tom, he told the Western Express.

The bar will try to survive

The issue of the bar’s survival is a very sensitive one for the owner, as he is now the only hope for the family business. The activity of his event organizing company has been stopped for a year and a half and does not generate any income, so the salvation of the family is a bar. No other activity can be done with such professions.

“Perhaps one day our clients will see a beautiful view of the port from here, but now we don’t have cakes (they only see the construction site – aut. Past). The municipality of Palanga communicates little and does not pay much attention to our needs. We will see what it happens when more people come here.

We will try to survive and I think we will succeed. I think we will find compromises in part. We understand the need to manage that garbage can, but I think you have to keep in mind that all restaurants and bars are going through a year and a half ‘fight’ nightmare and now they are being given more opportunities. One of my colleagues, who was also at the epicenter of these constructions, said: “Next summer may be fine, but we may not need another summer,” said the owner of the bar.

He says he agrees with the construction company Palangos Laguna, which works very well. Opened from the construction area bar by a four-walled tent, the builders water the area to avoid dust and use awnings.

It takes patience to be beautiful in the future

“One day we go to work and we no longer know our entrance. He cut down huge trees along Prieplaukos street and all the bushes in the swamp. Now it has become such an open space.

We have heard that there will be some competitions with us when everything is adapted here. We appreciate the harbor maintenance work, but we would like it to take place in the fall or spring, rather than so intensively in the summer.

There are not many people with us yet. People like to pass this side of the Fisherman’s Daughters sculptures in the dunes, and that building environment looks horrible. Of course, vacationers do not like to look at the construction from the balcony. But it will not always be so. We have to hang on now if we want to be beautiful in the future, ”said local girls who work in vacation homes near the port.

And the deputy director of the restaurant “Paršelio rojus” Jūratė Rekašienė believes that it is wrong that the construction works of the port are carried out in summer. They create inconvenience for employers who work near construction.