Ostrava University will build new buildings in the city center for a billion

Ostrava - The University of Ostrava will receive more than one billion crowns from European funds for the construction of a new university campus at the Černá louka exhibition grounds in the center of the regional city. This will create modern facilities for sports and technology as well as artistic fields. The campus, which will allow the university to offer new fields of study, is expected to open within three years, said Rector Jan Lata today.

"I am extremely happy and proud that the University of Ostrava will significantly contribute to the development of the local region. Ostrava has enormous potential, the fulfillment of which depends especially on young people, and therefore every welcoming step towards students is crucial," Lata stated.

The funding will allow the university to build two facilities. One will be space for sports and technology for the Department of Human Movement Studies. The university is currently the only one in the Czech Republic that does not have its own sports facilities and must rent them. The extensive sports complex will serve both students and the public, but it will also function as a research facility. For instance, it will feature a unique running track located on the upper floor, allowing athletes to run directly over the research facility. The other facility will serve the Faculty of Arts and become new grounds for music and visual arts. In addition to exhibition spaces, it will include a hall for chamber music with top-notch acoustics.

The city and the region have financially supported the university in preparing the project. Ostrava donated four hectares of land valued at over 40 million crowns near the Antonín Dvořák theater, where there is now a tram loop and the world of miniatures Miniuni. The city will move both to more suitable locations at its own expense, which will likely cost tens of millions of crowns. The city also intends to invest up to 160 million crowns in the construction of an underground parking garage, right beneath the Center for Healthy Movement. It could have a capacity of around 160 spaces and should serve both the university and the public, alleviating the problematic parking situation in the city center. However, the new council will ultimately decide on this support.

The university is preparing the administrative steps necessary to obtain a building permit and aims to select a construction contractor next year. Construction could begin within a year, with the opening of the facilities planned for 2021.

The university obtained the funds from the Operational Program for Research, Development, and Education as part of the Restart project, which aims to help initiate changes in the Moravian-Silesian, Ústí, and Karlovy Vary regions. According to the rector, it is remarkable that the project costs were not significantly curtailed, which he considers an extraordinary success. Thus, the university should have all project costs financially covered. The sports facilities are expected to cost 645 million crowns, while the facility for the Faculty of Arts will cost 357 million crowns.