Demolishing historic buildings that fall into disrepair is an everyday Polish reality. But this time, a post-German malt house in Glubczyce will be renovated and transformed into, among other things, a modern residential building. A bailiff 's auction has a chance to give it a second life.
a forgotten monument
This malt house, falling into disrepair, is one of the most valuable architectural structures in the entire municipality. Entering the town of Glubczyce from the direction of Opole, the massive block with its tall towers of chimneys stands out against the landscape. A few years ago, a large-format store was built on a separate square next to the former malt house, the shape of which contrasts with the historic, deteriorating malt house building.
Photo: Guardians of Time
And so the forgotten monument will be auctioned off at the District Court in Glubczyce at the end of April 2021. The property includes a plot of land with an area of 0.5 hectares, along with the ownership of the former malt house building with an area of 2.6 thousand square meters. However, the asking price is 793 thousand zlotys. Many locals dreamed that the renovated malt house would gain public utility functions, and its spaces would house a cinema, museum or cultural center. However, for known reasons, this is the least likely scenario.
I would like to see such an owner finally found who will make something happen around this facility. Today it's not the best sight at the entrance to the city. Glubczyce is fairly renovated and looks good, but we still have several such "pearls" that disfigure the city space," says Adam Krupa, mayor of Glubczyce, in an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza.
Photo: the Guardians of Time
The city plans to use a large part of the building for apartments. It turns out, however, that in that case the revitalization of the malt house building will amount to much more than in the case of the shopping mall project, more than PLN 30 million.
A good idea and money are needed here. A sensible investor is needed, and it can't be the municipality, because the expenses for such an investment would probably eat up half of our budget," says Mayor Krupa.
A good idea and money would also come in handy for revitalizing the historic Glubczyce train station. This one has been deteriorating for years, and preservation proceedings are trying to force the owner to take care of the monument.... Since the fire last year, the station has not only been deserted, but also remains in a terrible state.
a piece of history to be saved
The malt house building in Glubczyce was built during the industrialization of the city in the second half of the 19th century.Of the several breweries existing in the area, the most significant was the brewery founded by brewer Wilhelm Haude in 1856 on Fabryczna Street (after years of changes and expansion it still exists today).One of them was precisely the malt house, distinguished by its unusual architecture, located near today's Sobieskiego and Niepodległości Streets. Nationalized after the war, the malt houses were still in operation in the 1980s. After the end of the communist era, the brewery was slowly privatized. In early 2006, the building was entered in the register of historical monuments, and in the meantime a piece of land next to the building was sold.
visualization from 2015, Grebski Design Studio
Preservation proceedings fail to save the monument
As recently as 2015, there was a buzz about plans to convert the building into a gallery, which was to house, among other things, retail, service and food outlets. Unfortunately, the plans have remained unrealized to this day.... Preservation progress continues uninterrupted. This, however, does not save the building from falling into disrepair.
The building is under our supervision and we are conducting conservation proceedings against it; this is to control the state of preservation of the monument," writes Elżbieta Molak, provincial conservationist in Opole.
Will it be possible to save the historic malt house from the fate of being turned into a shopping center? Of the two evils, is a shopping center better than a deteriorating monument without any utility?
