As Osijek grew as a city, the fort's presence hindered the potential for urban development. The demolition of most of the fort walls happened between 1923 and 1926, with the construction of an electric tramway. The last gunpowder magazine, located behind the church of St. Michael, was demolished in 1958. While most of the fortifications have been demolished (only the first and eighth bastions and the northern wall with its so-called 'water gate' were kept), the center of Tvrđa remains intact. The Yugoslav People's Army maintained a garrison and a military hospital in Tvrđa, but in the 1980s these buildings were gradually being abandoned, and adapted into ateliers for local painters and sculptors.