A fire broke out in December of last year at the gymnasium of the primary school Most na Soči due to an electrical fault. The blaze destroyed the fitness area and changing rooms. The renovation work began in March this year. Initially, it was planned to open the new gymnasium by early September, but after professional inspections, additional improvements were decided upon, which delayed the opening by two months. According to the municipality of Tolmin, the renovation of the Most na Soči gymnasium includes the roof and overhang, interior surfaces and wall coverings, new building equipment and lighting, and a new sports floor, which will also extend the functional areas previously occupied by the fitness room. The project also includes modern solutions for forced smoke and air extraction and improved ventilation in the changing rooms. This has increased the investment value from the initial 850,000 euros to just over 900,000 euros. According to Tolmin mayor Alen Červ, the main increase in cost compared to the initial estimate is due to improving fire safety in the building relative to its previous condition, which was the basis for planning the renovation. As a result, individual solutions for mechanical and electrical installations have also been updated and improved, affecting the final value of the investment. Approximately half of the costs will be covered by the insurance company, while the remaining amount will be borne by the municipality of Tolmin, which is entitled to around 225,000 euros in state co-financing through the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth. The new sports equipment needed for physical education will be purchased by the school. According to principal Mojca Florjančič, students will be able to start using the renovated gymnasium after the autumn holidays. Until then, physical education classes will be held outdoors and in classrooms. The object with an internal area of 712 square meters will be available to other users starting in November. Construction machinery will also appear near the school next year. On the site of the existing outdoor playground, a new kindergarten will be built. The project for the new six-class kindergarten, playground, covered garage underneath, and reconstruction of the school is proceeding according to the planned schedule, ensuring Červ. "The project documentation is being prepared, and the process of obtaining a building permit is underway at the administrative unit." According to the mayor's predictions, construction will begin in 2027 and be completed two years later. The new kindergarten is expected to welcome children at the beginning of the school year 2029/30. "The value of the entire investment is still difficult to assess at this stage, but together with the garage house, it ranges between seven and eight million euros. The investment is allocated 1,936,368.85 euros in non-reimbursable funds from the national budget," estimates Červ. They decided on this due to greater safety, quality of activities in the kindergarten, and economics. At the location where the current kindergarten stands, they will build a sports field and a garage house underneath. According to the mayor's explanations, during the construction of the new kindergarten, child care will take place at an alternative location on Most na Soči. Exactly where this will be, the municipality does not yet disclose, although negotiations are in the final stages. The start of work on the next phase of the southern relief road from the roundabout in Betina to Ribenska Street, where an open excavation is planned, is expected in March next year. / Photo: Matic Zorman By mid-September, the application for a building permit for the first part of the second phase of the southern relief road on Bled will be submitted to the Administrative Unit of Radovljica, and construction could begin in spring next year. Bled - The first phase of the construction of the southern relief road on Bled with the entrance intersection at Betina was completed two years ago, and preparations for the next phase are currently underway, including the preparation of project documentation and the acquisition of land and necessary opinions, explained Dr. Damijan Jaklin, State Secretary for Infrastructure at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, on Wednesday, August 26th, in Bled. They hope that the administrative unit will issue a building permit for continuing the construction from the roundabout in Betina to Ribenska Street by the end of the year, and in the meantime, they will also carry out the procedure for selecting the contractor for the construction. Construction would then begin in early spring next year. Representatives of the ministry, the municipality, and the infrastructure directorate are reportedly discussing the project weekly and reporting monthly on progress in procedures for starting the continuation of the Bled bypass. According to Andrej Jan, director of the company PNZ Advisory and Design, which prepares the project documentation for the infrastructure directorate, the continuation of the construction involves an open excavation, which will then be concreted and covered again. "It is 500 meters of concrete structures that must be constructed according to a special method agreed with one of the landowners nearby, which requires its time." To the beginning of the excavation of Straža, this represents the most demanding object on the route of the southern bypass, according to his words. Mayor Anton Mežan is satisfied that the responsible parties have listened to him in recent months and actually heard him, and thus the light at the end of the tunnel has finally shown. After more than a year, the central investment of the City Municipality of Kranj in the field of upbringing and education - the reconstruction and extension of the branch school and kindergarten on Kokrica - has been completed. The project, worth 4.8 million euros, has been finalized with the acquisition of a usage permit just before the start of the new school year. The investment, for which the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth contributed slightly more than 992 thousand euros within a public tender, was carried out by the company Kovinar - Construction Jesenice, with which the municipality was very satisfied. Mayor Matjaž Rakovec emphasized during the presentation that the project is of exceptional importance for the local community. "In 1973, the question was whether we even needed a branch school on Kokrica, today it has already exceeded its boundaries," he said. Meanwhile, the principal of the Primary School Franceta Prešerna Kranj Sonja Grilc explained that they had long faced spatial constraints and organizational challenges. "New spaces are indeed a great gain, and employees can hardly wait for the first school day." Difficult-to-anticipate new classrooms, playrooms, kitchen, and staff rooms are a great gain for the local community. / Photo: Primož Pičulin More than doubled area and numerous new acquisitions The building from 1973 was partially demolished, completely renovated, and upgraded with a new eastern addition and an external fire escape. The total area has increased from approximately two thousand to four thousand square meters. In the ground floor of the addition, four new kindergarten playrooms with changing rooms, bathrooms, and covered terraces have been arranged, and the kindergarten has also received a sports playground, multi-purpose spaces, a meeting hall, a space for a specialist worker, and a space for parent discussions. The expanded kitchen will prepare meals for both the kindergarten and the school, and the enlarged dining room will allow better organization of feeding. New classrooms and staff rooms have been arranged in the upper floors, and an elevator connects all three floors, providing complete accessibility. The surrounding area has also been organized - separate areas for the school and kindergarten, parking lots, pedestrian and cycling paths, and students will have access to a new bicycle shed, with more green areas. Mayor Matjaž Rakovec emphasized that the project is of exceptional importance for the local community. "In 1973, the question was whether we even needed a branch school on Kokrica, today it has already exceeded its boundaries," he said. Number of children and organization of work In the new school year, the PŠ Kokrica will be attended by 161 students in nine classes from the first to fifth grade. The kindergarten will accommodate up to 80 children in four classes - two homogeneous classes for the first age group, one homogeneous class for children aged three to four, and one heterogeneous class for the second age group. The first-grade students have entered a new addition, which turned out to be more expensive than anticipated. The first-grade students have entered a new addition, which turned out to be more expensive than anticipated. The first school year for students of OŠ Artiče has started on three substitute locations. The new school year 2026/2027 has begun for students of OŠ Artiče, who will attend lessons temporarily on three substitute locations due to the construction of the new school. On the first school day, the three substitute locations along with the principal of OŠ Artiče Vesna Bogovič visited the mayor of the Municipality of Brežice, Ivan Molan. During the visit, they inspected the current status of the construction of the new OŠ Artiče. The first school day is particularly significant for 201 first-graders in the Municipality of Brežice, who are crossing the school threshold for the first time. However, the start of the school year for students of OŠ Artiče is somewhat different, as they will attend lessons on three substitute locations - in Arnovo Selo, Sromlje, and OŠ dr. Jožeta Toporišiča Dobova, where students of grades 7, 8,
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