Orlová has a new city center, after years it has opened the square

Orlová - The residents of Orlová in the Karviná region have a new town center, which was officially opened today: Náměstí 28. října. It also includes a multifunctional building with commercial spaces and apartments, as well as a fountain decorated with an eagle in flight. The largest investment by the town in the last quarter-century amounted to 428 million crowns, of which 276 million was covered by the Ministry of Finance, while the rest was paid by the city. This was stated to journalists by Mayor Miroslav Chlubna (Independents and Change for People).

"The construction was complicated, and the larger it is, the more complications there are. Every town should have its square; we do have some small places, but we finally have a large square," said Chlubna. The idea of building a new town center in Orlová-Lutyně was supported by the representatives of Orlová even before 2006. Orlová is a former mining town, and the subsidence and subsequent mining impacts forced the residents to leave the historical core of the town and move to newly built housing estates in Orlová-Lutyně. Thus, the town had a square in areas where there were minimal residents, while in Orlová-Lutyně, where people moved, a concrete patch between the department store and the town hall served as the square.

In 2008, four proposals for the future appearance of the square were presented. The designs were created by architecture students from the Swiss partner city of Illnau-Effretikon together with Brno architects. Residents voted on the future form of the square.

According to initial assumptions, the creation of the new center was supposed to cost around 300 million crowns. "It wasn't until 2011 that the city managed to secure the promised more than 200 million crowns from the state for the mitigation of mining damage. A contractor emerged from the tender, and in 2016, the foundation stone of the construction was laid. The construction began but was soon interrupted when archaeologists discovered a three-meter-wide path related to ancient history," recalled town hall spokeswoman Nataša Cibulková.

Other problems were caused by the contractor, who refused to complete the construction without the requested increase in funding. The city eventually agreed to terminate the construction and to freeze it, leading to the announcement of a new public tender. Construction work resumed only in the summer of 2020, and considering the COVID-19 pandemic, the square was opened about eight months later than originally planned.

The multifunctional building created at the site is meant to separate the square from the busy Masaryk Street. It has 15 rental apartments, and the city wants to select future tenants through a bidding process. The building also has five non-residential spaces intended for business. Orlová residents chose in a survey what they would like to have in these non-residential spaces.

The largest non-residential space is to be a café and pastry shop, with others planned for a bakery, bookstore and gift gallery, flower shop, and decorations. Therefore, the city will first look for candidates to operate these services. The smallest non-residential space will be filled based on the offers of applicants. The square also includes underground garages with a capacity of 92 spaces. Some of these will serve the tenants of the apartments and non-residential spaces, while other spaces will be designated for visitors to the town center, and some parking spots will be available for long-term rental.