– Dreams come true, even if you sometimes have to wait for them – said Prof. Andrzej Tretyn, NCU Rector during the ceremony of laying the foundation act for the construction of the Centre for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
The Centre is the last unfinished element of the NCU investment program prepared several years ago, under which, inter alia, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Modern Technologies and University Sports Centre were built. The construction is possible thanks to co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund – the “Monumentum Sonus Visio: Academic Centres of Creative Industries Culture, Art and Monuments Protection” program, which is being carried out by the University together with the University of Economy in Bydgoszcz.
On May 9th, the foundation act was laid for the construction of the Centre, which will be located at the back of the main building of the NCU Faculty of Fine Arts (ul. Sienkiewicza 30/32 in Toruń). The document was signed by: Prof. Andrzej Tretyn, NCU Rector, Piotr Całbecki, Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship, Prof. Elżbieta Basiul dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, and Piotr Augustyniak, Director of the Toruń Branch of Erbud. The ceremony was held with the participation of Maria Galewska, a representative of the European Commission.
The Centre for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage will conduct scientific research and conservation works, also contracted works for external entities. There will be interdisciplinary research laboratories operating in the field of conservation, but also using know-how of the specialists in such fields as chemistry, physics, biology and even geology. The project envisages the purchase of 115 modern devices, including a polarizing microscope, an XRF spectrometer, a metallographic microscope, an aging climatic chamber, an infrared spectrometer, an X-ray diffractometer, a portable digital X-ray system, a colorimeter, a micrometer and a 3D scanner kit.
The value of the investment, the building and the equipment, is PLN 36.8 million, of which PLN 30.3 millionwill come from EU funds. The whole Monumentum Sonus Visio project will cost over PLN 50 million, including PLN 38 millionfrom the European Regional Development Program.
The contractor for construction works is Erbud. The construction is to be completed in 2021, and the Centre will be operational in the spring of 2022.
