Efforts to acquire the station building by the city, essentially efforts to renovate it, began in 2010, when the Sejm amended the Act on the Commercialization of Polish State Railways (PKP), allowing local governments to take over railway assets for a nominal fee. However, it turned out that PKP Dworce Kolejowe (PKP Railway Stations) interpreted the new regulations somewhat differently and could only agree to a long-term lease under these conditions. Committing large financial resources to a facility not owned by the city was obviously out of the question, and negotiations regarding the purchase of the building continued for the next two years. Ultimately, the building, valued at approximately 2 million złoty, was acquired for 203,000 złoty in October 2012. Shortly thereafter, a decision was made regarding the building’s intended use. It was clear that it had to fulfill the functions of a station, as were the terms of the purchase, but it was also obvious that, given its size, it would have to be something more. A municipal police headquarters? A center for non-governmental organizations? A centralized municipal library? The latter concept won and work began on preparing a renovation and reconstruction plan that would allow for obtaining funds for this purpose.

This wasn’t an easy task. In 2014, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage refused to co-finance the reconstruction from the so-called Norwegian Funds. Therefore, it was necessary to wait until 2016, when PLN 7.5 million was secured from the EU-co-financed Regional Operational Programme for the Pomeranian Voivodeship. By then, however, the reconstruction concept had expanded – it no longer involved merely revitalizing the station but also creating an integrated transfer hub, connecting rail, bus, individual car, and bicycle traffic.

Two tenders for the road section of the investment and for the station modernization were awarded in April and May 2017. Shortly thereafter, the winner of the latter, a consortium of Kwidzyn-based companies, began work on the building. Completion was scheduled for November of this year. However, it soon became clear that the path to achieving this goal might not be so straightforward. The discovery of decorative polychrome beneath layers of later plaster necessitated a change in the design and the renovation process.

Andrzej Krzysztofiak, Mayor of Kwidzyn, explains: “When preparing the renovation of this building, the designer had to adhere to building regulations, which quite precisely define what, how, and why it should be done. But the regulations governing the conservation of historic buildings take precedence over these regulations. First come the guidelines of the conservator of historic buildings, then the construction design. First, the preservation of 19th-century architectural elements and functionality, then only the functionality of the 21st century. Everything we want to change must be discussed. Life shows that there are never fewer such conservation activities, and always more of them. Every new discovery, every new inscription, every new wall decoration means new money. The cost of implementation is rising.