Hungary Top Stories 2014: Breathtaking megaprojects grow out of nowhere

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10. A riverfront convention centre

In mid-June, the government stated its intention to build a new convention centre in Budapest with a capacity to accommodate 4,000 to 5,000 visitors until 2018. The state of Hungary had already acquired a suitable plot for the project, a 13,000-square-metre piece of land bought in early 2014 from TriGránit Group next to the Palace of Arts in the Millennium District, south of the downtown area on the Pest side of the Danube. The new facility would be suitable for 4,000 to 5,000 convention visitors or double as a cultural venue with seating for 3,000 to 4,000. In addition, it will boast two large-sized conference halls for up to 1,200-1,500 people each, as well as several smaller function rooms suited for 50 to 200 each, or 2,000 in total. The expo area will be somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 square metres. The facility is to be complete with 450 parking spaces.

9. Restoration of Buda Palace

The Hauszmann Committee, a task force set up to oversee large-scale works on the Buda Palace, set to work in November this year. Plans are to restore as much of the original structures as possible, whilst also adding new functions to the Castle District as part of a gigantic project. Works at the former Carmelite cloister designated to accommodate the Prime Minister's Office in the future are already underway. The next phase of the project, scheduled for launch in 2015, is an archaeological excavation of the Erdélyi Bastion, located in the courtyard of the onetime prison named after 1800s poet and freedom fighter Mihály Táncsics, one of the most famous inmates. The government has a declared aim of not only inviting bids for blueprints for restoration but also commence the actual work where it is possible. Among other plans, the government is considering the possibility to reconstruct a no longer existing winter riding school, designed by Alajos Hauszmann, in its original form. The National Széchenyi Library will have to go, however the President of Hungary's Office will not move in the palace building. Few specific details are known at this point; for instance, it is still uncertain whether the overhaul will span one decade, or two - however spectacular opening ceremonies on completion of each phase can be taken for granted. HUF 1.5 billion is set aside for the Hauszmann Plan in the 2015 budget, although reconstruction of the entire complex could cost as much as HUF 200 billion.

8. Museum District

The Liget Budapest project aims to develop and rejuvenate the City Park, which had served for many decades a prime cultural and leisure venue for Budapest residents, but has mostly been left to decline instead of upgrades since WWII. As part of the project, five new museums will be built (Museum of Ethnography, House of Hungarian Music, Foto Museum Budapest, Hungarian Architecture Museum, New National Gallery - Ludwig Contemporary Arts Museum), some on the currently paved/tarmac-covered surfaces on the edges of the park, while others will replace existing buildings slated for demolition. In addition, several existing facilities (e.g. Budapest Zoo, Transport Museum, Budapest Circus), along with traffic connections, will be reconstructed, necessitating the cutting down of trees as well as planting new ones. According to the plans, the overall green area would expand rather than shrink, from the current 60% to 65%. Construction is currently scheduled for launch in 2016 and to be completed in 2018. (A government decree stipulates that construction work must be complete by March 2018, i.e. in time for the next general elections.) The total cost of the project is estimated at HUF 150 to 170 billion, with tranches of funding to be allocated by the government in one-off cabinet decisions.

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• budapest,
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• metró,
• economy,
• real estate,
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• sports,
• development,
• facility,
• upgrade,
• palace