The historical New Market area behind the National Opera Estonia in Tallinn has become the site for a monument to the first head of government and president of Estonia Konstantin Päts. The statue arrived in its new location on Monday morning and will be unveiled this Friday.
The Konstantin Päts monument being erected next to Estonia Theater in Tallinn is scheduled to be unveiled on Friday, October 21, Tallinn Deputy Mayor Vladimir Svet (Center) announced Tuesday. The foundation of the sculpture of the first president of the Republic of Estonia is currently being poured.
Sculptor Vergo Vernik has asked the Tallinn city government to extend the contractual deadline for the completion and installation of Konstantin Päts' statue as the subcontracting stonemason is in jail.
Trivimi Velliste, head of the Konstantin Päts Museum, turned to the Ministry of Justice to ask for an extension of the grant contract for the monument for Konstantin Päts as the development has been delayed.
Last summer, a jury decided that a design by Toivo Tammik and Vergo Vernik called Head of State was to be erected behind the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn, honoring the legacy of Konstantin Päts, the first president of Estonia (1938-1940).
The architectural planning and artistic execution of the monument however have turned out to be more complicated than expected, Velliste noted. The authors of the design have found out that there is no granite rock in Estonia that is sufficiently sized and of high enough quality. It needs to be brought in, which is more expensive and time-consuming, Velliste wrote in a letter to the justice ministry.