Intensive renovation work is progressing on the historic Schwartz House, located at 50-52 Bydgoska Street in Toruń. Once completed, the building will be used by city institutions – Toruńska Agenda for Culture and Toruń Social Services Centre.
For years, the unique building had stood in a tragic state. It seemed that its fate was sealed and it would soon disappear from the city map. Społecznicy and ‘Nowości: Dziennik Toruński’ led the battle to save the monument, which ended with great success. In autumn 2020, work finally began.
The tenement in 2021. Photo: Sławomir Kowalski
The renovation of the historic tenement house included construction works, including the strengthening of the building’s structure, elevation, roofing, thermo-modernisation and the construction of internal installations. The building was equipped with a lift, which successfully passed its first tests. The landscaping will also include parking spaces and pavements. The greenery around the building will also be developed. It is worth mentioning that the reconstructed stained glass window, which was located at 50 Bydgoska Street, has been returned to its place. The existing door woodwork has also been preserved. Recently, installation, construction and conservation work has been going on inside the building, including cladding, stuccoing of walls, ceilings and installation of wooden floors. Outside, meanwhile, landscaping works have been carried out, including footpaths and driveways.
After renovation, the tenement will be used by the Toruń Cultural Agency and the Toruń Social Services Centre. YES, a Cultural Hub will be established in the building located at number 50. It will be a modern cultural centre attractive to tourists and residents alike, offering a wide range of events – from large international events, through numerous smaller events, to a local offer aimed at the district’s residents. In turn, TCUS, as part of the project ‘REanimation of Bydgoska 52 – adaptation of a historic building for socially useful purposes’, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the Regional Operational Programme of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship for 2014-2020, in sub-measure 6.4.1 Revitalisation of urban areas and their functional areas within the framework of the ZIT, with a value of PLN 13,063,741.01, with a subsidy of PLN 10,511,560.00, envisages the creation of two new forms of support for the residents of the Municipality of Toruń in the renovated building.
The tenement, consisting of two connected buildings, was built in stages. First, Konrad Schwartz built a building for himself and his family at 50 Bydgoska St. He commissioned the design from Berlin architects Gustav Erdmann and Ernst Spindler. Three years later, they did the same with an apartment building at 52 Bydgoska St. By 1904, the second part of the building was ready. It housed luxury flats for rent. The buildings are richly decorated with fachwerki forms (Prussian brickwork) and refer to Tyrolean motifs (white plaster with dark wood). The façade is characterised by a portal part with a bay window topped with a dome, which in turn refers to neo-Baroque Berlin forms; on the sides of the bay window, two 4-storey parts of the façade are designed with gables referring to the Baroque and are in turn supposed to refer to the slender patrician houses of Toruń. After 1945, the building housed a Civic Police station. In 1953, 52 Bydgoska Street housed a student house, then from the late 1950s tenant flats. Over time, the building fell into disrepair. The renovation, which is nearing completion, will once again make the Schwartz tenement house one of the most beautiful in the area.
Source: torun.pl, torun.naszemiasto.pl, toruntour.pl
Read also: Architecture | Tenement house | Architecture in Poland | Monument | History | Toruń
