 Opposite the opera house on the western part of plaza near the old town, is a small café and the Laima clock.The clock was set up in 1924, and in 1936 it was decorated with an advertisement for the Latvian confectionery brand "Laima", from which it took its name; it is a popular meeting spot.Originally it was planned that an elliptical plaza would be built around the foot of the monument, enclosed by a granite wall high, with benches placed inside it, while a hedge of thujas was to be planted around the outside.