An over one-hectare new park has been opened as part of the Liget Budapest Project around the newly constructed Hungarian Museum Restoration and Storage Centre – writes Városliget Zrt. Found between Szabolcs Street and Vágány Street in the 13th District, in the vicinity of the City Park, the new green is open – as part of a test phase – from 7 am to 7 pm. As part of one of Europe’s largest cultural, architectural project, the brownfield investment has given new cultural and communal life to tens of thousands of square metres of previously unused space.

 

The Hungarian Museum Restoration and Storage Centre in the new park, the Bókay Garden (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

The Hungarian Museum Restoration and Storage Centre was completed as part of the Liget Budapest Project in 2019, in Szabolcs Street, next to City Park. The closed hospital has been repurposed as restorer workshops, storage spaces, research rooms and offices. Covering over 37 thousand square metres, the building complex will also house the Research Centre for the Central European History of Art and a visitor centre. 

The new park, the Bókay Garden, was created around the renovated buildings and can be visited by the general public during opening hours.

The park is named after János Bókay, a Hungarian doctor, surgeon, paediatrician and university professor, who is considered one of the founding fathers of modern paediatrics. The greens in the garden cover a total of 13000 square metres and include 132 trees and 5900 shrubs. Visitors are free to use the benches and cycle parks in the garden, while bird feeders, birdbaths and insect hotels keep animals comfortable.

The 13000 square metre park contains bird feeders and benches (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

The Hungarian Museum Restoration and Storage Centre will serve the storage and research needs connected to the over three hundred thousand works of art found in the collections of the Hungarian Museum of Ethnography, Museum of Fine Arts and National Gallery. The largest building in the complex houses artwork storage and restorers workshops on 4 levels below ground and three above.

The construction of the Hungarian Museum Restoration and Storage Centre does not simply overcome a decade-old disadvantage. In many ways, the investment is ahead of its time. Only the largest European museums, such as the British Museum in London and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, have similar centres, with one under construction for the Louvre in Paris. The Hungarian centre matches the capabilities and capacity of these international counterparts.

Source: Városliget Zrt.

Cover photo: The Hungarian Museum Restoration and Storage Centre in the new park, the Bókay (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)