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Lazare Eloundou Assomo World Heritage Centre UNESCO Culture Sector 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP 09 June 2025 No 8.-1/1340-2 France Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn: Comprehensive Management Plan and construction works within the property boundaries Dear Lazare Eloundou Assomo, We would like to express our sincere gratitude towards UNESCO World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS International for submitting the technical review of the Comprehensive Management Plan for the Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn. Your prompt attention to this matter helps us meet the strict timeline required by Tallinn City Council’s document processing procedures. We are confident that the adoption of the comprehensive management plan will provide a clear framework for coordinating conservation efforts, regulating development, and engaging all stakeholders in the protection of cultural heritage. We appreciate the results of the ICOMOS Technical Review which agrees that the new Comprehensive Management Plan 2035 for Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn, in tandem with the Tallinn Old Town Conservation Area Policy Bill, provides a sound basis for sustaining the Outstanding Universal Value of the Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn World Heritage property. However, ICOMOS Technical Review refers to the current lack of baseline data and finds that, setting the targets and implementation measures to address the risk of the Old Town becoming a mono-functional tourist area (pages 20-21) is still in preliminary stages. Baseline data and the targets will be set this year after the adoption of the document that will establish also survey intervals. Concrete activities concerning baseline data collection and setting the targets are included to the implementation plan 2025 of the Comprehensive Management Plan 2035. As a living document, the implementation plan is subject to annual review and updated as necessary to remain relevant and effective. We will provide updated information and data on these key actions to the World Heritage Centre as requested. Regarding the information about the construction of the extension of Tallinn Secondary School of Science within the property boundaries we confirm that the whole process has been carried out in full accordance with appropriate legislation and with the view to find the best possible solution to meet both conservation priorities and development needs. Tallinn Secondary School of Science is situated at the southern border of the property, at the built-up quarter of the fortification area surrounding the city core (see Annex I). Current school building was opened in 1884, being the first purpose-built school building in Tallinn. The school building is declared national monument. The plot of the school is situated at the outer border of the city fortification area, on the zone of the moat and the glacis rampart (see Annex II). Vabaduse väljak 7 +372 640 4375 Rg-kood tallinn.ee 15198 Tallinn [email protected] 75023823  The need to modernise the learning environment of Tallinn Secondary School of Science has been long in discussion. In 2007 a schematic volumetric analysis was made to consider locations and volumetric options for the extension of the historical school building that would respect the constraints imposed by heritage protection requirements and urban planning principles. The present location and the volume of the extension was selected out of five options as the most appropriate for the disposition of the built-up quarter of the fortification area surrounded by Georg Otsa Street, Estonia Avenue, and Pärnu Road. This quarter was formed at the second half of the 19th century and at the turn of the century on the grounds of the former city fortifications, now the prominent location at the city centre. Characteristic spatial features of this quarter are defined by the volume and the position of the public buildings erected in the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The extension of the Tallinn Secondary School of Science considers the urban space of the immediate surroundings: the established building lines and building structures and volumes of culturally valuable buildings (see Annex III). Based on schematic volumetric analysis the special conditions for the detailed plan of the extension were issued in 2007 to ensure that the proposed action does not have a negative impact on World Heritage attributes. The special conditions were approved by Estonian National Heritage Board and Tallinn Urban Planning Department in the same year. In 2009 a preliminary archaeological survey was conducted at the proposed site of the extension. In 2013 the detailed plan for the extension was established. In 2015 it was approved by Estonian National Heritage Board and Tallinn Urban Planning Department Heritage Protection Unit. In 2022 public architectural competition was carried out for the design of the extension of the Tallinn Secondary School of Science (see Annex III). Considering the impact of the extension on the city fortifications it can be stated that the effect on the preserved historical structures is slight. As stated before, the school is situated at the outer border of the city fortifications, on the area of the moat and the glacis rampart, the latter being destroyed plausibly during the erection of the initial school building. The extension affects slightly the retaining wall of the moat i.e counterscarp, extending onto the wall at the western corner of the building (see Annex II). The wall is largely preserved, it will be conserved and exhibited (with the additional exhibition of the archaeological finds from the survey) in the new school building. In comparison with the dispute of the extension of the nearby Estonia Theatre and Concert Hall (Estonia Opera Theatre) the negative impact of the extension of Tallinn Secondary School of Science on the city fortification area is minuscule. This is mainly so due the location of the school at the built-up quarter (the opera theatre is situated at so called green belt of the fortification area i.e park area with few buildings) at the outskirts of the fortification area (proposed site of the extension of the opera theatre is situated at the archaeologically preserved half-bastion, see Annex II). Yours sincerely Kaire Tooming Tallinn Old Town Development Coordinator / Site Manager of Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn Heritage Protection Unit Tallinn Urban Planning Department 2  Enc.: Annex I – Location of the Tallinn Secondary School of Science within the property Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn. Annex II – Location of the Tallinn Secondary School of Science concerning fortification area. Annex III – Visualisations of the extension of Tallinn Secondary School of Science. Source: Molumba | Estonian Architecture office, https://www.molumba.com/reaalkool. Cc: Permanent Delegation of Estonia to UNESCO National Commission for UNESCO National Focal Point for World Heritage [email protected] [email protected] 3 Annex I Location of the Tallinn Secondary School of Science within the property Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn. Annex II Location of the Tallinn Secondary School of Science concerning fortification area. Annex III Visualisations of the extension of Tallinn Secondary School of Science. Source: Molumba | Estonian Architecture office, https://www.molumba.com/reaalkool 1. A view from Estonia Avenue, historical school building on the right. 2. A view from Estonia Avenue, new building is surrounded by historical buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th century. 3. A view from the courtyard, on the background the historical school building and Estonia Theatre and Concert Hall (Estonia Opera Theatre). 4. A cross-section of historical school building and the extension. Teema: FW: Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn: Comprehensive Management Plan and building within property boundaries From: Kaire Tooming <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, June 9, 2025 3:50 PM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Cc: Delegation of Estonia/Délégation d'Estonie <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; Mihkel Kaevats <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; UNESCO ERK sekretariaat <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; Carolin Pihlap <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Subject: Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn: Comprehensive Management Plan and building within property boundaries Dear Mr Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Please find attached a letter replaying your letter from 16 May 2025, explaining the current state of the Comprehensive Management Plan, and construction works within the boundaries of World Heritage property ‘Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn’. Best regards Kaire Tooming Tallinn Old Town Development Coordinator / Site Manager of Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn Heritage Protection Unit Tallinn Urban Planning Department [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> +372 543 40157 Raekoja plats 12, 10146 Tallinn, Estonia