The exhibition ground Černá louka is awaiting modifications to public spaces

photo: www.ostrava.cz

Ostrava - The Ostrava Exhibition Center Černá louka, located close to the central Masaryk Square, is set for extensive renovations of public spaces. Last year, the city replaced the public lighting at the exhibition center and now plans to modify the access road and create a relaxation area. Deputy Mayor Břetislav Riger (Ostravak) announced this to reporters today.

"We wanted to undertake one large project. However, the fact that we entered a regulatory building phase at a certain point forced us to divide the beautification into two phases," Riger stated. The first phase will begin this month and includes the modification of the roadway and parking spaces leading from Pivovarská Street around the Cooltour Cultural Center to Exhibition Pavilion C. The area is expected to utilize paving stones or resin. Everything should be completed by mid-September. The work is projected to cost approximately 3.5 million crowns excluding VAT.

Next year in the spring, the city hopes to continue with further modifications, which will be more financially demanding. Plans include modernizing the central part of the exhibition center, which is expected to undergo significant changes. Riger estimated the costs to be around 20 million crowns. The plans include extensive landscaping, planting 86 trees, 2500 shrubs, 300 different grasses and ferns, 3100 perennials, and 16,300 bulbous plants. Sidewalks will be renovated, and plans include children's features and paved areas in the grass for furniture placement, Riger noted.

The city still considers that it may utilize the urban proposal for the development of the exhibition center in the future, which previously won an international urban planning competition by the Dutch architecture studio Maxwan. The city commissioned the proposal in 2010 while vying for the title of European Capital of Culture 2015. According to Mayor Tomáš Macura (ANO), the city would need investors for this project.