In the late 50s of the 19th century in commercial and industrial circles of Riga, the idea of establishing Riga technical school appeared. The project of the school was developed by a private school director in Riga K. Bornhaupt; a party responsible for the project implementation was Riga Exchange Committee. After discussion of the initial draft plan on establishing a mid-level technical school, it was decided to establish multibranch (polytechnic) higher technical school in Riga based on the Western European model. However, due to the difficulties in reaching an agreement on juxtaposition of Western European traditions of higher education with the traditions of higher technical education in Russia, the project was opposed by senior bureaucratic circles of the Russian Empire. The article summarizes previously published materials by various authors with regard to the establishment of Riga Polytechnicum – a popular high school in the Russian Empire afterwards.