JUNE 2022
Reconstructed historic slaughterhouse set to open for first visitors
The opening ceremony of Ostrava’s newly reconstructed former city slaughterhouse took place in the third week of May. It was one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year, attracting hundreds of visitors to the complex, which has been converted to become the home of the Plato contemporary art gallery. Experts gave a number of lectures and guided tours, explaining both the history of the building and what awaits it in its future life. Among the speakers and guides were the Polish architect Robert Konieczny (who designed the reconstruction project), the Director of the Plato Gallery Marek Pokorný, and the Mayor of Ostrava Tomáš Macura.
In the past months, this historic late-19th-century building has undergone a complete reconstruction and renovation that has given it a fresh new appearance – integrating many of the original features of the slaughterhouse into a new, unique design concept that will enable it to operate as a modern gallery. The new Plato gallery has five exhibition halls which can either function separately or be combined into a single space by rotating the partition walls in line with the principles of “moving architecture” – of which architect Robert Konieczny is an enthusiastic proponent.
The final phase of the work is still ongoing, and it will continue for several weeks, but the complex will remain open to the public until 10 June. Every weekday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., visitors will be able to view the interior spaces before any furniture and fittings are installed, offering a unique opportunity to admire the simplicity and purity of the architectural design.
More information about the project can be found HERE.
Photography Lukáš Kaboň
What should happen to the area between Karolina and Lower Vítkovice? Come and see a debate at the Gong!
At 6 p.m. on 15 June, the Gong auditorium in Lower Vítkovice will host a debate featuring architects (Josef Pleskot, Roman Koucký, Tomáš Ctibor) and City representatives, who will discuss the future development of the area between Ostrava city centre and Lower Vítkovice.
The City is keen to consolidate ownership of all the land between Karolina and Lower Vítkovice, making it possible to breathe new life into this largely disused industrial area. The area occupies a prominent and strategically important location within Ostrava, so it is an ideal site for the creation of an entire new urban quarter.
Topics to be discussed at the debate include how to address the current lack of connections between the two areas, what type of development will be appropriate for this key brownfield location (as well as the adjacent Černá Louka site), and whether it is viable to build a new city quarter there.
The debate is aimed at the general public.
The City still offers an attractive site at Středoškolská St.
At its session on Wednesday 23 March, Ostrava’s City Assembly approved plans to sell land in the Ostrava-Jih municipal district for future residential development. The site, located between Středoškolská St. and U Studia St., has a total area of 12151 m². With excellent transport links and easy access to civic amenities, it offers an ideal location for an apartment complex. The deadline for submitting bids is 29 July 2022.
According to a study commissioned by the City, the residential development could comprise 217 apartments in total. The City has specified that development plans must take a comprehensive approach to the entire area, including essential infrastructure in the vicinity, and for the first time ever the City has also stipulated that at least 10% of the new apartments must be set aside as affordable rental housing.
The site is an open grassy area on the edge of a housing estate consisting mainly of prefabricated apartment blocks. Tram and bus stops are a short walk away, as are Ostrava’s main sports venues – the City Stadium (football and athletics) and the indoor Ostravar Arena. The nearby Avion mall offers a full range of shops and services.
Complete information about the site and the conditions for bids is available at the City’s official noticeboard and the website https://land.ostrava.cz/stredoskolska-site/.
Visualization: Ondřej Sikula.
Dr. E. Beneš Square could become the site of a new apartment block
For many years, the revitalization of Dr. E. Beneš Square (Náměstí Dr. E. Beneše) has been a key focus of the City – including the potential renovation of several historic buildings which are situated on the square but are in private ownership. In addition to a recent urban planning and architectural study for the revitalization of this important public space, the City has also previously signed a memorandum of cooperation with the owners of the former Ostravica-Textilia department store complex. Reconstruction work at one part of the complex began in the spring of this year, and next year should see the opening of a creative centre in the building, including a restaurant, café, music club, theatre auditorium, and conference hall.
The City has already announced its decision to sell a plot of land bordering the square as the site of new residential development. The announcement also included details of the conditions that the City has set for the reconstruction of a former bank building (which forms the second part of the complex and has a different owner than the former department store). The announcement was made last year, and the City received two bids to buy the land, both planning to build a hotel on the site. However, the first bidder did not comply with the stipulated terms and conditions, and the second bidder altered their proposal during the contract negotiations to build an apartment block instead of a hotel. The City has therefore decided to modify the call for bids and re-announce the new version.
The revised call for bids will be published on the City’s website, where it will be possible to comment on it.
Photography Ostrava City Archives.
Ostrava has again been ranked the best place in the Region to do business
Ostrava has successfully defended its position in the national comparative survey “Cities for Business”. The survey brings an annual evaluation of 205 cities and towns plus the individual municipal districts of Prague.
Ostrava achieved an excellent ranking within the Moravian-Silesian Region for the business-friendliness of its public authorities; the total hours during which various authorities are open for business is the highest in the Region. Businesses also appreciate the City of Ostrava’s excellent and easy-to-navigate website. Ostrava has succeeded in exploiting its strategic location and leveraging the advantages offered by its dense and high-quality transportation infrastructure – which continues to improve year on year. For example, Ostrava has the second-highest number of electric vehicle charging stations in the Czech Republic (after Mladá Boleslav).
Ostrava’s business environment is continually developing and improving – a trend that is reflected in the high number of corporations registered in the city relative to its total population. The City of Ostrava also invests substantial sums in improving its housing stock as well as in culture.
Improve your company’s health with the Business Doctor!
The Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre (MSIC) is introducing a new service for businesses – the Business Doctor. Each Friday, selected specialists will help business-owners to solve problems affecting various aspects of their business. These will include how to deal with constantly rising prices, shortages of materials and suppliers, and issues related to HR, sales and marketing.
Every Friday between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., it will be possible to take part in a meeting with an expert (either online or in person). During June, the focus will be on HR issues. Meetings must be pre-booked by using the form HERE (in Czech).
Defence Ministry plans new logistics centre at Mošnov
The Czech Republic’s Ministry of Defence is planning to build a new logistics centre in Mošnov, directly next to Ostrava’s international airport. Some of the staff currently employed at the army logistics centre in Rakovník will be relocated to work at the new facility. In June the Ministry will sign a memorandum with the Moravian-Silesian Region, thus enabling the land to be transferred free of charge.
Construction work will begin in 2024, and the Ministry has explained that the site will be used for logistical activities rather than for military purposes. Besides creating hundreds of new skilled jobs, the project will also involve the reconstruction and modernization of the airport runway.
The new army logistics centre will be unique, as there will be direct access to the site by air, rail and road. Ostrava Airport is also large enough to handle the world’s biggest aircraft.
Ostrava will have the largest fleet of electric buses in the Czech Republic
From May, Ostrava’s public transport corporation (DPO) will be gradually introducing 24 new electric buses featuring the OppCharge fast charging system. New charging infrastructure for the new buses will be built at the Hranečník terminal in Slezská Ostrava. Once all the new buses are in service, one in ten DPO buses will be electric vehicles. The operations of all 24 new electric buses will produce up to 700 kg less carbon dioxide emissions than comparable CNG buses.
The acquisition is helping Ostrava to continue fulfilling its zero-diesel commitment; last spring, the City announced that it would no longer buy any diesel buses, and only eco-friendly vehicles would be used for day-to-day public transport operations.
The new charging infrastructure at the Hranečník terminal ushers in a new phase of this long-term strategy. There is already a bus charging station at Ostrava-Svinov, and the City also plans to build a third charging station at Valchařská St. in the city centre. Ostrava will then have three strategic charging points for electric buses, which will be able to operate on routes within a certain radius of these points. CO2 emissions will thus be substantially reduced within these areas of the city.
Photography Jiří Zerzoň.
You can still register for the conference focusing on brownfields
On 19 June 2022, the Lower Vítkovice complex will host the fourth edition of the successful annual Brownfields conference. The main topic at this year’s event will be industrial development on brownfield sites in the era of sustainability. Using examples from Ostrava and other places, participants will share their knowledge of how local and national government and developers can transform declining industrial regions in order to equip them for the 21st century.
The conference will present inspirational examples of projects from the Czech Republic and abroad, helping to find solutions for brownfield sites that are still waiting for their “second chance”. The guests will include leading experts on development, industry, the environment and funding, as well as representatives of regional and national government bodies.
The accompanying programme will include a guided tour of brownfields in Ostrava and the surrounding area, which will take place on Friday 17 June 2022.
The Brownfields conference is a platform for dialogue between the private and public sectors targeted at the development of brownfield sites in the Czech Republic. The event is being organized by the CzechInvest agency, the Association of Developers, and brownfields regeneration expert Kateřina Kubizňáková, with the support of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade.
See HERE for the full conference programme and tickets (only in Czech).
OTHER NEWS
Major revitalization of public space planned for Ostrava-Zábřeh
One of Ostrava’s most striking modern buildings is the Church of the Holy Spirit in Zábřeh. The City is keen to revitalize the entire public space in the vicinity of the church – and its future appearance will be based on an urban design competition being organized by Ostrava’s Municipal Studio for Urban Planning and Architecture (MAPPA). The intention is to transform this large open area into a pleasant place to relax, meet people, and engage in community activities. The deadline for interested parties to send their preliminary portfolios is 3 June 2022. The deadline for submitting the competition proposals (designs) is 30 September 2022. The results of the competition will be known by the end of the year.
Currently, the space next to the church is unattractive, being used merely as a parking lot. Competition entrants should propose a complete design solution for the entire public space, taking into consideration not only the church itself, but also other buildings in the vicinity – the Luna cinema, the Kotva shopping centre, the preschool, and the adjacent housing estate. They must also incorporate a new rectory building, which formed part of the original plans for the church. The City (and the Ostrava-Jih Municipal District) is determined to transform the square into a pleasant public space that will act as a hub for the entire surrounding area and a venue for community activities and relaxation. The terms and conditions of the competition can be viewed HERE (only in Czech).
Students can participate in this year’s Business Camp
This year’s Business Camp will take place from 28–31 July. The event is targeted at secondary school students, and it offers a safe and stimulating environment where they can try developing their business ideas into fully-fledged business plans.
The culmination of the Business Camp experience will be the presentation of business plans to real investors. The process of elaborating the business plans will take four days, during which students will be mentored by experts from the Euroschola institute. Value will be added by workshops featuring young entrepreneurs, who will share their experiences of both successes and failures.
Participants will be selected on the basis of their applications, including a structured letter of motivation in which applicants should write about their own concept of and approach to business and explain what they expect to gain from participating in the Business Camp.
Registration for the Business Camp is HERE (in Czech).
Ostrava is continuing to offer subsidies to encourage the renovation of important buildings
As in previous years, in 2022 the City of Ostrava is offering subsidies to support renovation projects that will improve historic or important buildings. Since 2009, the City has operated an annual subsidy programme that helps fund renovation work at historic buildings in Ostrava. Eligible for funding are not only legally protected buildings, but also those which lack legal protection, yet can nevertheless be considered important elements of the urban fabric. At its May session, the City Assembly approved the provision of subsidies to 12 applicants, representing a total sum of more than 7 million CZK.
Under the terms and conditions of the subsidy programme, applicants can request a subsidy of between 50 000 CZK and 1.5 million CZK (for non-sacred buildings) or between 50 000 CZK and 500 000 CZK (for sacred buildings). At least 50% of the costs of the reconstruction must be covered by the applicant. The City has offered these subsidies for a number of years. Recent projects co-funded via the scheme include the renovation of residential buildings at the “gable” housing scheme in Vítkovice, buildings at Hollarova St. or on the city’s main central square (Masarykovo náměstí), the relief “The Cosmic Age” on the façade of a building in Poruba (Alšovo náměstí), or currently ongoing work to restore the façade of a music club (Hudební svět) on the Ostravice River embankment in the city centre.