In March, an ambitious project by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) and Kaunas City Municipality – “House of Basketball” – was gradually presented to the public and now is starting to become a reality. Recently, capsule symbolizing the beginning of the multifunctional center’s construction has been lowered into the construction site.
When establishing public institution by Kaunas City Municipality and LKF, the specific, non-commercial goals of the project were taken into account – the establishment of a museum, inclusion of the event and conference halls, interactive entertainment zones and administrative premises where LKF office will be located.The Mayor of Kaunas Visvaldas Matijosaitis, the President of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation Arvydas Sabonis, the architect Gintautas Natkevicius and the General Director of “YIT Kausta” Kestutis Vanagas lowered the symbolic capsule into the ground commemorating the beginning of the construction.According to the mayor, “House of Basketball” should become the most interesting innovative and educational museum in the country for the younger generation and basketball lovers.
“Kaunas is a city that admires basketball, therefore no one has any doubts in which Lithuanian city the House of Basketball should be located. I have no doubt that this will be the most attractive museum in the country, which all Lithuanian people will want to visit, ” – said Kaunas’ Mayor Visvaldas Matijosaitis.The President of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation Arvydas Sabonis was pleased with the start of the construction and said that it was not possible to come up with a better time to fulfill this project.”It is joyful that all views and ideas have been considered. We hope that everything will continue to go smoothly and that we will be able to show the public not only beautiful exterior, but also open the doors of the House of Basketball and invite them inside.
As I have already mentioned, in 2017 Lithuanian basketball commemorates many important dates: we are commemorating the 95th anniversary of Lithuanian basketball. Additionally, this year marks the 80th anniversary of the Lithuanian men’s basketball team winning the European Basketball Championship and 20 years since the analogical tournament was won by the Lithuanian women’s national team.
Our country will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2018, so I think it is also symbolic that this museum will emerge during this period, which will give meaning to an important part of our country’s history, – said LKF President Arvydas Sabonis.
The entire technical construction project was prepared and gifted to Kaunas City Municipality by architect Gintautas Natkevičius.The initial ideas of the architect will be implemented by „YIT Kausta“, a company with many years of construction experience, which won the contest announced by Kaunas City Municipality and will build the foundation of the center. Its General Director Kestutis Vanagas states that this building will serve both, the city‘s and the country’s residents.
“This is a truly unique project – one that Lithuania has never seen before. It is planned that the building full of innovative ideas in the oldest part of the city will contain basketball trophies in the museum hall, will have a 5D cinema and interactive zone, a hall of fame and a cafe with an outdoor terrace. It will be a modern multifunctional center that will serve the residents of the country, and in the future, we hope, will also become a tourist attraction.
I hope that the successful start of construction will not stop halfway and the project will become a real gift to the so-called basketball city of Kaunas, celebrating the anniversary of the restoration of independance of Lithuania” – said Kęstutis Vanagas, General Director of “YIT Kausta”.After laying the foundations of this building and thus completing the first stage of construction, Kaunas City Municipality will hand overfurther project to the “House of Basketball”, and the further construction will be financed by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, with the help of an external partners and sponsors.
“We have primary sources of funding in our budget, however, we continue to work very closely with potential partners and sponsors of this project. There is a lot of interest and we believe that everything will continue to go smoothly, ” – said Arvydas Sabonis.According to the author of the project Gintautas Natkevicius, the value of the whole project is estimated to be around €2.1 million. Contractor “YIT Kausta” has promised to construct the foundation of the building by the end of 2017, and the opening of the House of Basketball should take place in the second half of 2018.
Basketball fans can already contribute to the development of the museum by donating or lending rare exhibits, photos and of course providing financial support.
