The Surakarta administration has postponed a plan to restore a century-old bunker as a tourist attraction because of a lack of funds.

The 16-meter by 24-meter bunker was discovered in 2012 within the Surakarta City Hall compound by the Central Java Cultural Heritage Preservation Center (BPCB).

The administration allocated Rp 15 million for the bunker'€™s excavation, which was completed in 2013. Since then, though, the bunker has been left untouched, and its two rooms, separated by thick walls, are now filled with puddles of water and copious trash.

Surakarta City Planning Agency (DTRK) Agus Djoko Witiarso said the agency could not go on with its plan, as it was still waiting for the budget to approved by the municipal legislature.

'€œWe don'€™t have the funds to start the revitalization. We will propose a budget of Rp 1.5 billion [US$114, 942] for the bunker'€™s revitalization in the revised regional budget this year,'€ he said.

Agus said that once approved, the money would go first to determining the original purpose of the building through a thorough study, as well as to the creation of detailed engineering designs (DED).

The revitalization project itself, he said, would be conducted in 2017.

'€œA thorough study is needed to revitalize the bunker. We plan to turn it into a historical tourist destination,'€ Agus said, adding that a team of cultural heritage experts would take part in the research.

Agus said that the administration had planned to turn the bunker into a gallery displaying historical photographs and paintings of the city hall.

'€œWhen we have enough information, the bunker will also serve as a gallery to display pictures featuring similar structures across Indonesia,'€ he said.

BPCB protection, development and utilization division head Gutomo meanwhile said that based on the results of the agency'€™s study, the bunker had previously been used as storage and as a defense shelter.

'€œThe bunker is a legacy from the Dutch. The City Hall complex was previously used by high-ranking officers of the Dutch colonial government as offices and as a residence,'€ Gutomo explained, adding that most buildings built during the Dutch era had bunkers for defensive purposes.

The bunker is thought to have been built during the governor-generalship of Herman Willem Daendels between 1890 and 1900.

DTRK cultural heritage preservation division head Mufti Raharjo said that in the past, the area above the structure was a park used to conceal the existence of the bunker.

'€œThe bunker was certainly a secret hideaway, camouflaged by the park beneath which it lay,'€ Mufti said, adding that the existence of the bunker had long been an open secret, especially among local people.

 Before the bunker was unearthed, the area surrounding the subterranean structure was used as a children'€™s playground.

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