In 2025, significant decisions will be made regarding the future transformations of the Dolní Vítkovice area. The New Baths building at Hlubina and blast furnaces 4 and 6 will be saved and repurposed. Kofola Revives the New Baths Kofola ČeskoSlovensko acquired the New Baths building back in 2016. This May, it announced that after challenging years of the COVID pandemic and a complicated economic and energy situation, it will finally begin constructing its new headquarters here. The project will combine administrative facilities with an interactive museum dedicated to the traditional Kofola brand, offering visitors a unique experience. This year, the tender for the construction contractor was completed, with IPS Třinec a.s. set to carry out the work within 500 days of commencement. The architectural design was prepared by the court architect of Dolní Vítkovice, Josef Pleskot. The project, titled Kofola – Home in the Heart of Ostrava, is co-financed by the European Union. Its aim is to protect cultural heritage and improve accessibility to this heritage-protected building. Photo: DOV, visualisation Kofola ČeskoSlovensko Blast Furnaces 4 and 6 as MUSEum+ Blast furnaces 4 and 6 are transitioning to the ownership of the newly established industrial museum. The furnaces were previously owned by Vítkovice, a.s. The transfer to the state with management rights for MUSEum+ is the result of over a year of negotiations. Complications arose particularly from addressing historical ecological burdens. The architectural design for the transformation of the heritage-protected structures was once again created by Josef Pleskot. It allows for the preservation of the authentic appearance of the blast furnaces, casting halls, auxiliary buildings, and the vast majority of technological components while also permitting the relatively free addition of other elements necessary for the museum's operation. MUSEum+, the Industrial Museum in Ostrava, is the first state-established museum to be located in Ostrava. It also serves as a repayment of a debt, as one of the most industrialised regions of the Czech Republic lacked a collecting institution focused on the history of industry and technology. Update 15. 7. 2025: MUSEum+, the Industrial Museum in Ostrava has selected a contractor for the project documentation for the construction of its headquarters in blast furnaces 4 and 6 in the Dolní Vítkovice area. The winner of the public contract is the "Consortium for MUSEum+", consisting of the Ostrava firm Chválek Ateliér, s.r.o. as the leading partner and Prague's Energy Benefit Centre a.s. The winning consortium succeeded in the public tender with a bid price of 65,933,920 CZK excluding VAT, while the second bidder's offer was significantly higher. The designers will base their work on the architectural study by architect Josef Pleskot. Their task is to prepare project documentation for the building permit and construction execution. The contract also includes project documentation for the remediation of contaminated land and the interior design project. The project to transform the blast furnaces into a modern industrial museum is funded by the resources of the Just Transition Operational Programme. MUSEum+, the Industrial Museum in Ostrava, is one of the strategic projects of the Moravian-Silesian Region. Photo: DOV, visualisation MUSEum+ Modernisation of the Stop at Hlubina A great piece of news is the planned modernisation of the underpass and the adjacent tram stop at Hlubina (Dolní Vítkovice, Hlubina) – the gateway to Dolní Vítkovice, prepared by the city of Ostrava. The project documentation is currently being processed, and in 2026, a public tender for the construction contractor will follow, after which the actual implementation will begin. The site will undergo transformation according to the architectural design by the studio Místní architekti. Costs are estimated at approximately 100 million CZK excluding VAT. Visualisation Místní architekti, s.r.o. SOURCES: DOV, Kofola ČeskoSlovensko, MUSEum+, Statutory City of Ostrava