REGION
Orlová is a Dignified
Place to Live
Orlová, a town with mining history and 28,000 inhabitants,
has faced various prejudices in the last decade, mainly in the media.
Readers can judge for themselves whether this is justified.
The town of Orlová has four districts:
Lutyně, Poruba, Město and Lazy. Until
the middle of the last century, life took
place in the main town and Lazy, but due
to mining it is completely different today.
Around 3,000 buildings disappeared from
old Orlová due to mining. Life moved to
the residential areas of Lutyně and Poruba;
the demolished buildings were replaced by
new ones.
Cultural events take place mainly in
the reconstructed Culture Centre of Orlová,
which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last year
in the centre of Lutyně. 'The multifunctional
hall is home to O Cinema, which can
accommodate more than 360 spectators and
is equipped with the latest technology for
digital projection and state-of-the-art sound',
says cinema manager Pavel Sikora. O Cinema
shows 300 screenings a year and is visited by
over 15,000 people.
Films are also popular in the partially covered
open-air cinema which, together with
the forest park, is the most popular seasonal
destination. The open-air cinema is a venue
for many events. People also come here to sit
in the summer garden to enjoy a bar, a Greek
grill and a children's playground.
The cradle of social life is the Orlová Municipal
Library, which celebrated its 100th anniversary
last year. 'All of the library departments, including
the information centre, have been housed in
a modern new building in the town centre since
2005 and we can say that it is truly a 21st century
library that no longer provides services strictly
related to books', says library director Iva Sušková.
The establishment of the Municipal Sports
Club confirms that Orlová is a town of sport.
‘We currently have 750 active athletes, which
is the most we’ve had in the five years we’ve
been active. Kids play hockey, football and
baseball with us; they also engage in athletics
and military sports. For preschoolers, we offer
versatile sports kindergartens’, says Michal
Kozák, director of the Municipal Sports Club
Orlová.
The Children and Youth Centre in Orlová,
which is undergoing reconstruction at a cost
of nearly 50m CZK, offers seventy clubs and
courses. In addition to their regular activities,
they prepare about 230 events a year and
are the most popular organiser of children's
camps and trips, of which they organise
about forty a year.
The pride of Orlová is the Relax Centre
with a water world and wellness area worth
26m CZK, which opened to the public in
2019. It is an outdoor oasis of peace in
the forest park, the revitalization of which
took three years. 'It included the adaptation
of the pond by the cottage, the regeneration
of the greenery, the repair of pavements
and lighting, the restoration of the well and
the acquisition of furniture', says Deputy Mayor
Miroslav Koláček. The forest park also offers
a huge forest playground, an educational trail
for children and an outdoor gym.
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