The Ostrava district of Vítkovice will have a funeral hall costing nearly 75 million crowns

Ostrava - In the Ostrava city district of Vítkovice, the demolition of the funeral hall will begin in February. It will be replaced by a new building costing nearly 75 million crowns, which should be completed next March. In the coming months, it will not be possible to say a final farewell to the deceased at the Vítkovice cemetery, and the services will be moved to funeral halls in other Ostrava districts. Lenka Gulašiová informed journalists about this today on behalf of the district.

"The new funeral hall will meet all the requirements of modern funeral services and will allow for a dignified and comfortable farewell to the deceased. It will also significantly affect the character of the Vítkovice cemetery, the second largest in Ostrava," said Mayor Richard Čermák (Ostravak). The construction of the new funeral hall is one of the largest projects in the district in the past decade.

Demolition and subsequent construction work will begin on February 1. A funeral hall, an administrative building, and a stonemasonry will be built on the site. The city will help finance the construction, covering 60 percent of the costs.

"Because the existing funeral hall is an inseparable part of the history of Vítkovice, we decided to thoroughly document the character of this building and also create a memorial in the new structure to reflect what it looked like. This is where tens of thousands of Ostrava citizens said goodbye to their loved ones, and we want to preserve their memories not only through a gallery of images," Čermák added.

The new Vítkovice funeral hall is designed to be located at the site of the current facility, which is already insufficient in capacity and is awaiting demolition. "The new building respects the current spatial layout; the entrance to the new object is designed at the corner near the central entrance to the cemetery. The funeral hall will have a rectangular floor plan, composed of two main buildings. The funeral hall will be divided into several parts. Next to the entrance for mourners, there will be a lobby and restrooms, stairs to a balcony, and the actual entrance to the funeral hall. From the lobby for guests, it will also be possible to enter a small funeral hall. This publicly accessible area will be followed by the technical support operations. At the northern boundary of the cemetery, by the entrance from Na obvodu street, a stonemasonry building and a parking lot expanding the existing capacity will be newly placed," Gulašiová stated.