Photo: Palace of Sports in Vilnius, D. Umbrasas/LRT
BNS, April 22, 2025
BNS–Lithuania’s new prime minister Gintautas Paluckas said his Government is considering the previous Government’s proposal to build a Jewish memorial in and around the Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports, a now derelict, Soviet-era indoor arena, but this year’s budget does not include funds for a feasibility study.
“The process is ongoing. We’re evaluating, weighing options and holding discussions. So far nothing has changed, and if any decisions are made, the public will be informed,” Paluckas told Baltic News Service.
The previous government approved the idea of building a memorial on the site of the old Jewish cemetery in the Šnipiškės (Yiddish Shbipishok) neighborhood of Vilnius and inside the arena building based on recommendations from a working group.
The memorial would be dedicated to the history of the Vilnius (Vilna) Jewish cemetery which operated for centuries at the site.
The Lithuanian National Museum told BNS the memorial project is being implemented according to the working group’s proposals.
The museum said that together with Turto Bankas (Property Bank), the Lithuanian state property company, they “will begin work on a feasibility study as soon as necessary funding is received.”
Earlier plans called for a feasibility study to be completed by November, 2025, and for an international tender to be launched on February 1, 2027.
The museum said they could not confirm a specific start date for the study, however, because they weren’t sure when funding would be made available.
“A lot of money will be needed,” Lithuanian PM Paluckas said. “We’ll have the money in the budget, when we do. The 2025 budget is what it is, but things can happen in 2026.”.
The Lithuanian prime minister said there wouldn’t be “any sudden moves” because the project has international significance and decisions must take the “geopolitical context” into account.
“There’s a wide context of circumstances to take into account,” Paluckas said, adding: “There are all sorts of proposals,” including scrapping the Šnipiškės memorial altogether and converting the Palace of Sports into a conference center instead, or adapting it for commercial use.
Full story here.