Moravian Ostrava wants to fill in three gaps near the central square

Ostrava - The leadership of the city district of Moravská Ostrava and Přívoz wants to build an underground parking lot together with the city hall and to construct buildings on the site of three current gaps in close proximity to the main Masarykovo náměstí in the city center. Everything could be completed in five years, but it is currently impossible to estimate the cost. One of the new buildings is to be a new district town hall. District representatives presented the project at a press conference today.
    "The foundation of everything are underground parking spaces that would be created in the area between Pivovarská and Dlouhá streets, under part of Masarykovo náměstí, and then separately between Purkyňova and Zámecká streets. There should be a total of nearly 700 parking spaces over two levels with access both to the buildings and to the public space," said councilor Lukáš Semerák (Ostravak).
    The new district town hall is to be located in a building that is to be constructed in the area between Dlouhá, Zámecká, and 28. října streets. This area is currently part of Masarykovo náměstí and at this time, for example, there is an ice rink. However, it was built up in the past, with houses being demolished in the 1960s.
    In the building that is to be erected between Zámecká and Purkyňova streets next to the current department store Horník, the councilors would like to see an administrative services center, that is, for example, the agenda for issuing documents. In the third object on the site of the current parking lot between Velká and Pivovarská streets, there should be small apartments for seniors.
    Semerák stated that the idea for financing is that the district and the city hall would secure the necessary permits and documentation, and then the construction would be handled by a financial investor. "This means that both the city district and the city of Ostrava would essentially be the users, that is, the tenants of those buildings," said the councilor.
    He expects that this would be financially less demanding for the district and the city, as instead of buildings costing hundreds of millions, they would only pay the costs for project documentation amounting to tens of millions at most. However, the district also hopes for a reduction in construction costs, a speedier construction process, and higher quality of the buildings. According to Semerák, estimating the cost of the entire project at this point would be speculation since it is not possible to estimate, for example, the extent and duration of archaeological research yet.
    The deputy mayor of Ostrava for investments, Jiří Hrabina, confirmed that in recent months, the city hall has been collaborating with the central district on a joint plan for filling in gaps. "I must say that our visions and plans for future use align remarkably well here, which is why we agreed to help in preparation, which, in the first phase, primarily consists of securing the necessary funds for pre-project preparation," said Hrabina.
    He considers it a matter of course that the design of the new town hall in Moravská Ostrava should emerge from an architectural competition. "Therefore, we have proposed the necessary funds for this competition and for the investment intentions of other city gap projects in the upcoming city budget for 2014," Hrabina stated.
    According to councilors, the completed buildings could be finished in up to five years. "I think it is realistic that from today we could have a zoning decision in legal power for the Purkyňova - Zámecká object in a year, and the other two objects could be at some stage of obtaining the zoning decision, certainly after the architectural competition phase for the new town hall. Next October, there will be municipal elections, and subsequently, there will be a new council that will have this paperwork completed and has a real chance of seeing it realized and cutting ribbons," said Semerák.