The Tallinn Urban Planning Department has initiated a new detailed plan for the Pirita Olympic Yachting Center, also known as TOP. The idea has been discussed for a decade, although little to no progress has been made.

The aim is to update the designs that have not yet been implemented. Some elements of the original architecture must be preserved, as required by heritage protection rules.

Tallinn Deputy Mayor Tiit Terik (Center) said the area does not function very well and the space "no longer meets today's needs."

"The Pirita TOP area is actually very sensitive, and therefore, its development has involved a lot of debate, opinions, and balancing of interests. Inevitably, with such areas, schedules have fallen behind. In public sector processes, there is an unavoidable need to find a societal balance between development and different interests in the area, which often takes longer than anyone would like," he said.

As the area is also partly under heritage protection, this may further complicate development there, said Oliver Orro, a heritage protection specialist at Tallinn's Heritage Protection Unit.

"Some of the original architecture must definitely be preserved, and some can be changed. It is clear that we cannot protect Soviet-era buildings in the same way as a medieval church. We are not preserving every centimeter of original wall surface, but rather trying to find compromise solutions," Orro said.

"There are three different aspects under discussion. One is the hotel, where most of the spaces no longer have a function. The plan is to demolish some parts and rebuild some as replicas, because reconstructing the existing structures would be complicated, and to preserve some parts as they are. There are also plans to build a new section, possibly for a hotel and water center. Then there is the seaside area, where there are former stands and the yacht club area or the former press center, as well as the ceremonial square by the river. For that part, they are still considering what will be done. Some of the spaces there are in use," he explained.

No one can yet say how much the reconstruction might cost, but it is clear that neither the city nor residents need to worry about funding, Terik added.

"How it will be built and with what resources, that is up to the private owner," the deputy mayor said.

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