In Ostrava, a branch of the National Agricultural Museum has begun construction

Ostrava - A branch of the National Agricultural Museum (NZM) has begun construction in the abandoned halls of the industrial complex of Lower Vítkovice in Ostrava. The reconstruction of two former factory halls, designed by Josef Pleskot and Milan Šraml, will last 15 months and cost over 120 million crowns. This was reported today by NZM spokesperson Jitka Taussiková.

In addition to the creation of new exhibitions, the main goal of the project is to improve the conditions for the preservation and presentation of the collection funds of the Prague museum. This will be the first state museum in Ostrava. "The museum will relocate here and make a part of its unique collection of historical agricultural technology accessible to visitors in the form of an open study deposit," said Milan Jan Půček, the general director of the National Agricultural Museum.

The project consists of modifying two factory halls, adding a building between the two halls, erecting a new structure, and creating an entrance space to the halls. The ground floor will feature equipment for cultivating agricultural crops. The addition, shaped like a third steel hall, placed several meters above the original halls, will focus on food as the final products of agricultural efforts. In the spaces of the future gallery - the walkable roof of the extension - there will be an area for presenting food technologies.

The institution will be located in the building of the former Veronikárna, a hall where Veronika cars transporting hot iron were repaired and renovated. The railway cars were allegedly named after the mistress of one of the then-company executives in the 19th century. The second building served as a storage facility for refractory materials.

In addition to its main building in Prague's Letná, the museum has four branches: in Čáslav, at the Kačina and Ohrada castles, and in Valtice. The Ostrava branch will be the fifth. The National Agricultural Museum is a state-funded organization. It engages in agriculture, forestry, hunting, fishing, horticulture, food processing, agricultural product processing, rural development, and cultural landscape.