In Ostrava, a protest has begun against the developer competition in Karolina

OSTRAVA - Today, the civic association Za starou Ostravu (For Old Ostrava) initiated a protest against the announcement of a developer competition for the construction of the area of the former coking plant Karolina in Ostrava. For the protest, titled Let's Shine a Light on Karolina, the association chose an unconventional method. Using laser light, they project messages onto the empty space of Karolina commenting on the way the city approaches the development of this area. If the association does not violate the law, it has the right to present its opinions, responded Deputy Mayor Vít Ruprich to the protest.
At the end of last year, the city announced a developer competition for this lucrative area, thus deviating from the earlier concept by Polish architects, whose proposal for the future appearance of the area succeeded in an international architectural competition.
The protest will last until Wednesday and will project every day from 06:00 to 07:30 and from 17:00 to 18:30. Today, for example, slogans such as "Center for All the Money" and "Pre-election Supermarket: City Clearance Sale" appeared on the area. "We chose this 'positive' way of protesting because it does not involve unauthorized entry onto the premises, disruption of public order, or any damage," said Olga Slámová from the association Za starou Ostravu to ČTK.
She added that the association has discussed the entire issue with the city in various forms, but despite its comments and the objections of the Czech Chamber of Architects, the city ultimately announced the developer competition.
"Our demands remain the same. We want architecturally high-quality solutions and an open and clean competition. We still believe that Karolina deserves only the best and that the outcome should not be influenced by haste or political or private interests," added Slámová.
Deputy Ruprich told ČTK that the city is open to discussion. "Even in the announcement of the developer competition for Karolina, public presentations of the projects are planned so that the representatives have some opinions from the public," he noted.
The developer competition is expected to last until April, and by mid-year, the city wants to select the winning project. The city of Ostrava could gain approximately 200 million crowns from the sale of land in the area of the former coking plant Karolina. The entire area covers about 36 hectares, but the undeveloped area constitutes approximately 30 hectares.