Ostrava continues with the planned transformation of Černá louka

Ostrava politicians discovered after a year of research that the city's current priority is a new concert hall.

Ostrava - The city of Ostrava continues to prepare for the revitalization of the Černá louka area. The city unsuccessfully sought the title of European Capital of Culture 2015 with a comprehensive transformation of this locality into a new urban district with cultural and educational institutions. The biggest priority at the moment is the construction of a new concert hall, which is expected to be the most expensive of all the proposed projects. Ostrava's Mayor Petr Kajnar (ČSSD) stated this to journalists today.
    The new concert hall could be built between the Puppet Theatre of Ostrava and the Antonín Dvořák Theatre. "We have spent about a year examining what kind of building we actually want. At the moment, we have the material to begin preparing the (architectural) competition," said the city's chief architect Cyril Vltavský.
    According to him, the capacity of the concert hall is expected to range from 1,000 to 1,200 listeners. Vltavský added that the city could be assisted in drafting the architectural competition by some renowned companies. "The architectural competition should answer how such a hall might look," Vltavský explained. The competition could be announced as early as the first half of next year, and by the end of the year, the city would like to know its results.
    Ostrava is also likely to announce a public contract for the preparation of a land use study for the Černá louka area. The document should elaborate in more detail the winning urban design by the Dutch company Maxwan. "The land use study should outline the next steps, including the necessary technical adjustments of the area. The land use study will set forth functional, spatial, and possibly spatial rules for construction in that area," Vltavský stated. He reminded that the urban competition was only conceptual, and it is expected that separate architectural competitions should be announced for each of the buildings.
    The city had previously approved that the transformation of the Černá louka exhibition center would be supported with two billion crowns. According to Kajnar, the city has allocated money for project preparation amounting to tens of millions of crowns for next year. "We will definitely try to obtain European funds or support from the Ministry of Culture; we will strive to secure financing from multiple sources," Kajnar said.
    Maxwan proposed a park surrounded by buildings, which create a sort of horseshoe shape around the central area. In addition to the concert hall, the site also plans for a contemporary music center, a kunsthalle, a creative incubator, or a school and residential buildings. It has previously been mentioned that some structures, such as apartments, could be built by private investors.