Historical cobblestone represents great value and wealth, so as soon as it is discovered, for example, during repair work, concerns about its future immediately arise in society. The representative of the Riga municipality emphasizes that the found cobblestone is accounted for, preserved, and the heritage custodians are informed about it, reports the "4th Studio" program (LTV).
Large-scale construction work continues near Slokas Street, close to the railway crossing. One local resident expressed concern during the "4th Studio" program about where the historical granite cobblestone, preserved under the asphalt, has gone.
In a letter, he asked: "Where does it go? Is it not at some official's home? Is it not being sold or thrown away?"
The municipality categorically denied that the historical cobblestone is being stolen. The head of the Public Infrastructure Development Department of the Riga municipality, Mārtiņš Slimbahs, explained that dealing with historical cobblestone during repair work happens quite often.
"In this case, as in all others, the covering is described — its volume is determined, and then it is transferred for storage to the Department of Urban Environment and Mobility, where this cobblestone, in this case, hewn, is preserved. Additionally, while implementing the project, we also inform the National Heritage Protection Authority about such a fact, and a well-established system operates accordingly. After dismantling, the cobblestone is accounted for and delivered to the appropriate storage location."
The dismantled historical cobblestone is counted and reused if necessary during the installation of street coverings.
"Usually, it happens that if its reuse is planned within the same project, it is dismantled and laid again, but in this case, such an option was not provided — then it is transferred for storage. And then the city, while implementing some project, can use this cobblestone. If I am not mistaken, the municipality is currently implementing a section of Dzirnavu Street, where it was planned to use more of such cobblestone — it is applied in such projects in the future," added the representative of the municipality.
Currently, the Riga municipality has just over 6000 tons of historical cobblestone in storage. This includes both hewn granite cobblestones and granite curbs, wall blocks, and granite pillars.
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