The gas holder in the Lower Area of Ostrava has already reached its maximum height

Ostrava - The heritage-listed gas holder in the Lower Vítkovice area of Ostrava has reached its highest possible height. The lifting of its sunken upper part, weighing approximately 800 tons, took a week. The so-called bell was successfully raised by nearly 15 meters, bringing the gas holder to a height of almost 33 meters. Eva Kijonková, spokeswoman for the engineering company VÍTKOVICE, told ČTK. By 2012, a multifunctional center will be created from the national cultural monument based on a design by architect Josef Pleskot.
    The sunken bell of the gas holder from 1921 was raised precisely by 14.92 meters, which is the height measured relative to the level of the future square in the industrial Lower Vítkovice area. "Since the time of the discovery of America, this is a symbolic number. For us, it symbolizes the discovery of new opportunities for technical uniqueness and the revitalization of the Lower Vítkovice area," said Petr Koudela, director of the Lower Vítkovice association (DOV).
    The actual lifting was a very complex process - the massive steel structure with a diameter of 70 meters was raised simultaneously by 16 hydraulic presses. The bell moved upwards gradually by eight centimeters - about 46 centimeters in approximately 3.5 hours. About forty employees of Metallurgical Assemblies worked on the challenging lift. After a week, the gas holder took on the shape it lost after 1998 when it ceased to serve as a storage facility for blast furnace gas.
    After the bell is lifted, it will undergo internal rehabilitation, followed by construction work. "We will start building at the turn of March and April," Koudela previously informed ČTK. Inside the gas holder, a multifunctional center will be created with a congress hall for 1500 people and a gallery covering an area of 1000 square meters. According to Pleskot's proposal, the original steel structure will be preserved.
     The costs for transforming the gas holder will be around 270 to 300 million crowns. It is the most expensive project within the half-billion subsidy received by the DOV association for the restoration of three monuments in the industrial area near the center of Ostrava - the gas holder, the sixth energy central, and one of the three blast furnaces.
     The DOV association, whose members include companies from the VÍTKOVICE MACHINERY GROUP and the technical university of Ostrava, will invest over a billion crowns this year into transforming the Lower Vítkovice area. Gradually, it aims to restore the entire industrial complex - the developmental project New Vítkovice is expected to cost up to 60 billion crowns. A cultural and social complex will emerge there, featuring scientific facilities, a unique World of Technology, a university center, and possibly a regional scientific library and a public sports facility.