The project

The project deals with a quarry site on the island of Krk. The quarry is a paradoxical product of the dynamic and often self-contradictory Croatian regulations. Although it was never included in any physical plan, the quarry has all the work permits. Actually, there was a plan in the early 1980s to build the facilities of the 3 Maj shipyard on the site of Voz and Peškera bays. The shipyard never started operating, but the approval for the broad excavations for shipyard facilities was interpreted as a permit to open the quarry pursuant to a special law. Over the entire period of stone exploitation, the Municipality of Omišalj was trying without success to have the quarry closed.

The physical development plan of the Municipality of Omišalj for this area foresees catering/tourist contents with a mostly recreational character, and a small recreational port and a water sport center. The proposed transformation concept is based on the conversion of the site and the plan for improving the quarry, which gradual closing would be directed towards the planned organization of the site. The conversion proposal includes 3 thematic units that enable the construction in phases in accordance with the improvement plan and the final closing of the quarry.

The first unit covers the Voz bay and foresees a hotel with the capacity of 500 beds and a recreational port with a maximum of 100 berths. This location is the logical solution because of its geographic position, as proven by archeological finds on the site. Because of the bay’s depth and the optimal preservation of the coast, it is proposed to make a small port on floating pontoons, while the shore would include a beach and a promenade, attracting attention to the archeological zone near the hotel. The hotel, placed on a strategic point, would link all the different themes, while its shape would not hinder the view to the sea and both coves.

The second thematic unit covers the current area of the quarry, stretches over the entire length of the newly created “wall”, and foresees a theme park with all the necessary contents and a car park with 950 parking places. After the quarry worked there for years, the site has a deep gash in the hill, leading to the idea that the damaged hill should be filled with a dense forest with various entertainment/recreational contents. The space is used in different layers, which overlap and create various possibilities. The theme park is divided into different theme zones depending on the choice of entertainment, like a water park, water sports or a roller coaster, and zones for leisure and recreation.

The third thematic unit is a flat and wide plateau, adjacent to the other two thematic units and the Peškera cove. In order to form a rounded whole, it is proposed to fill in a part of the plateau and create a beach by transforming the quarry. Because of its specific features, this zone becomes a flexible stage for numerous mass activities, where various scenarios of site use can be foreseen. The plateau becomes the gathering place for the young and the old, as well as the site of various cultural events and performances, concerts, festivals, shows etc. Because of its flexibility, the plateau is also suitable for sport/recreational activities, offering a big choice of sport fields, organized sport schools or certain sport/recreational competitions. During the winter, it provides a great space for fairs and a dry dock, while the summer tourist season can turn the plateau into a big trailer campsite.

The issue of the quarry and its conversion is not exclusively in the domain of urban planning regulations, which are the context of this project. Although the purpose and use of the space are determined by the regulations governed by the Physical Planning Act and are within the competence of the Municipality, the exploitation of the quarry and the procedure of its closing are in the domain of other regulations, primarily the Mining Act, where the municipality has small or no influence. The exploitation and the method of improving and closing the quarry are determined by special studies and procedures for adopting the mining project, which makes it possible for the two documents to be divergent.

The New Lighthouses project opened the possibility to harmonize the two documents (the urban development plan and the mining project), since the agreement between the Municipality and the quarry user would turn the project into the basis for determining both plans.

These are the program realization steps:

Making a site transformation proposal that is the basis for the quarry conversion project and the urban development plan;

Making and adopting the Urban Development Plan;

Making the Mining Project pursuant to the provisions of the Mining Act,
which will include the quarry conversion plan and the realization periods.