The exhibition about blast furnaces in Ostrava continues until the end of September

Ostrava - The exhibition on the future design that architects are planning for the blast furnaces and other monument-protected objects in the so-called Lower Vítkovice area has been extended until the end of September due to high interest. Since July 20, when the exhibition about the national cultural monument in the Rothschild Castle Library in Ostrava-Vítkovice first opened to the public, about a thousand people have already visited it, said Eva Kijonkova, spokesperson for Vítkovice, to ČTK.
    The exhibition titled "Lower Vítkovice - A Future Within Reach" is open to the public every weekday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It was originally scheduled to last only until the end of July.
    The exhibition presents visions by renowned architects who have developed studies on the reconstruction and revitalization of industrial objects. The public can thus view the work of Josef Pleskot, who is the author of the transformation of the former gas storage into a multipurpose auditorium and center for 1,500 people, or the study of an industrial park and the reconstruction of the VI. energy center by the couple Helena and Václav Zemánek.
    "It is an opportunity for people to familiarize themselves with plans that will fundamentally change the face of Ostrava," said Petr Koudela, director of the non-profit association Lower Vítkovice, which is the guarantor and investor of the contemplated transformation of the eleven-hectare area of the national cultural monument of the blast furnaces.
    Visualizations and studies depicting the gradual development of expert opinions on the use of the national cultural monument, which has held the title of European Heritage since last year, are on display. The exhibition also includes unique three-dimensional models. According to Koudela, it is not excluded that access to the exhibition will be extended repeatedly if the interest from the people of Ostrava continues.
    The National Heritage Institute and VÍTKOVICE company, as the owner of the national cultural monument blast furnace, signed an agreement this July that allows for extensive changes in the functionality of individual buildings within the protected complex. Blast furnace number 1 will transform into a technical educational trail (with descriptions of locations and processes that took place there) and a tour route with views of Ostrava will be built on it. The gas storage will be opened to the public for education and culture, and the VI. energy center should undergo regeneration into an interactive museum, educational space, and specialized laboratories, where direct interactive learning in technical fields should also take place. The spaces are to be utilized by both the city of Ostrava and the Moravian-Silesian Region, as well as schools and universities located in the area.
    The costs for revitalizing the first three monument-protected objects – the gas storage, the sixth energy center, and one of the three blast furnaces – will reach half a billion crowns. The owner of the monument aims to secure this funding this year from European funds.