After five years, the Rebuild Dubrovnik Fund -- launched with a
symbolic $10 "Buy-a-Tile" program to replace damaged terra-cotta
roofs in the medieval walled city -- is heading into the
homestretch.
Fourteen of its 15 projects have been completed, and work on the
last, the restoration of the Library of the Franciscan Monastery on
the island of Lopud, is scheduled to start this year. The library's
roof and interior were badly damaged by shelling on Dec. 6, 1991,
and its irreplaceable collection of 10,000 musical works, 2,000
manuscripts and 60,000 pharmaceutical texts was stored hastily in
the monastery's refectory, where it has been lying in cardboard
boxes since.
The fund, founded by ASTA and Dubrovnik-based Atlas Travel, has
put up $105,000 for the restoration, including $35,000 from World
Monuments Watch. Another $60,000 is needed for the project,
according to Nazli P. Weiss, the fund's executive vice
president.
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The Rebuild Dubrovnik Fund and the support it has received,
including major contributions from American Express, have
revitalized the city, battered by Yugoslav army artillery in 1991
and 1992.
All along, the sponsors have wanted to re-create the environment
that prevailed in 1990 for tourism and provide for expansion of the
city's infrastructure. That now has been accomplished. This year,
for example, Croatia is on the itinerary of 27 U.S. tour operators,
and the Dalmatian coast will host 200 ship calls. The city's
cultural sites can be self-sustaining.
Success has raised the question: What next? The fund could be
dismantled or could redirect its efforts toward other projects in
and around Dubrovnik. A committee is looking into the options, a
tacit way of saying that it would be a shame to stop now.
The Rebuild Dubrovnik Fund stands as one of the great causes
backed by an industry trade association. It not only saved some of
the old city's culture and historical landmarks; it awakened the
industry to preserve other sites around the world. It offered the
promise and hope that if the world cared more for its historical
sites, it might exercise care not to knock them down.