The post-modern railway station in Częstochowa will, however, be demolished. Protests by architecture fans, who pointed to the building as a valuable example of late 20th century architecture, did not help. The railwaymen have already signed a contract with the general contractor for the new station.
The current railway station building in Częstochowa was completed in 1996, although individual parts were handed over earlier. A passageway with waiting rooms over the tracks was opened as early as 1991, especially for World Youth Day. The post-modern building was ceremonially opened by the then president Aleksander Kwasniewski, symbolising the city’s entry into the 21st century. The project was designed by architect Ryszard Frankowicz and his team. Despite its ambitious aims, the building did not live up to expectations. The spacious walkway located above the railway tracks was supposed to attract life with its retail and service units, but most of them remained empty for lack of tenants. The modern edifice quickly lost its freshness and attractiveness.
A few days ago, we received a message in our inbox from PKP S.A. entitled: “10 most important facts about the main railway station in Częstochowa”. In it, the railwaymen informed that on 23 April they had concluded an agreement with a general contractor and that the first works related to the construction of the new facility according to the design selected in an architectural competition would start soon. They also cited arguments in favour of demolishing the current building, which they said would benefit passengers who would be able to use the new infrastructure.
Already at the conceptual planning stage, the PKP took into account the opinions of the city’s residents and passengers. Work on the station began in 2017 with a public consultation in the form of a creative workshop. An open meeting organised at the Częstochowa City Hall was attended by dozens of people, including representatives of interested social organisations, reads the first item.
In another, the railwaymen recall that they deliberately decided to announce an architectural competition, in cooperation with the City of Częstochowa and PKS Częstochowa, which was organised by the local branch of the Association of Polish Architects. The concept by a consortium of architectural studios from Poland and France won first place in the competition.
Although the conditions of the competition allowed for both the reconstruction of the existing station building and the construction of a new one, all 23 submitted projects called for the demolition of the current station and its replacement with a new one. One of the groups of architects who submitted entries to the competition also included a person who is a board member of the Elanex Group, a community organisation that is currently protesting against the construction of the station. This project was not awarded in the competition, but it too envisaged the demolition of the station’s western wing and a complete change in the appearance of the building’s body, although the conditions of the competition did not impose this,” explains PKP S.A. in a message sent to us.
Another argument for the demolition of the building is said to be its poor functional layout. Only a small part of the total area is used. The station’s rooms are largely vacant and the eastern pavilion is completely closed. The existing station does not meet modern standards and technical requirements. It is also unattractive from the point of view of tenants running retail and service outlets, as some of the commercial space is located on the floors and in other areas that are out of pedestrian traffic, and there is no plumbing in the walkway above the tracks.
The new design envisages the construction of an interchange centre for travellers using trains and buses, and the optimisation of the routing of routes connecting key locations of the site. It also envisages the location of commercial premises along the main pedestrian routes. What is more, the rental spaces in the walkway and the western pavilion will be able to be combined, subdivided and adapted to the needs of specific tenants based on the scale and type of their business. The entire facility will be fully adapted to EU accessibility standards for all groups of travellers – including people with reduced mobility and passengers with disabilities. The area of the new facility will total 5231 sq m. (the current station – about 9,000 sq m) and will be similar to other facilities in cities of similar size and number of passengers using the station – almost identical to the main stations in Gdynia and Olsztyn, and larger than the stations in Rzeszów Gł. or Radom Gł. – reads the fifth point.
The railwaymen go on to argue that the current management of the company took over the project at an advanced stage, having already obtained planning permission and selected a contractor. Work was temporarily halted solely due to the proceedings of the conservation officer, who ultimately did not consider the station to be in need of protection. – The conservation proceedings themselves had a negative impact on the investment schedule and made it impossible to benefit from the EU funding granted earlier, adds the PKP S.A. Communications Office.
In point seven, the railwaymen have already quoted specific amounts:
The outlays for the currently implemented variant of the investment (costs of construction works) amount to PLN 119 million gross, while the estimated value of the reconstruction of the station with the preservation of the existing body would amount to approximately PLN 198 million gross. In addition, the costs of the entire investment should also include PLN 2.6 million for a feasibility study, conducting an architectural competition, design and connection fees. To the expenses for the possible modernisation of the current station, one would have to add the costs of buying the copyright to the architectural design, which are difficult to estimate at the moment.
In the next one, they recall that already in 2015 they had analysed the possibility of renovating the station to accommodate people with disabilities, but had not reached an agreement with the architect. – (…) it was not possible to reach an agreement on copyright and the possibility of other designers, it reads.
The railwaymen estimate the cost of maintaining the new facility at PLN 4.8 million per year, and the station after modernisation with the existing body preserved at PLN 5.6 million per year. The station in its current shape would generate higher environmental costs due to higher energy consumption.
Changing the concept for the reconstruction of the station at this point would result in the loss of millions in subsidies from European funds (FEnIKS), and stopping the investment would require the procurement of a new design, the issuing of a new building permit, the selection of a new works contractor and contract engineer. At present, withdrawing from the investment, without any rational reasons, would mean incurring the costs of potential claims from contractors. It is worth adding that as a result of the actions of local activists related to the efforts to have the station building entered in the register of historic monuments and the consequent delay in the investment schedule, the PKP company has already lost EU funding (OPI&E) of around PLN 2 million. Failure to invest would also mean the loss of PLN 2.6 million earmarked for the feasibility study, the competition and the project, concludes the PKP S.A. company.
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Loading ...source: PKP S.A.
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