Love at First Sight and a Rebirth Through Heart
Love at First Sight and a Rebirth Through Heart, Soul and Hard Work
12 ǀ POSITIV 1/2025
BUSINESS ROZHOVOR
Love at First Sight and a Rebirth
Through Heart, Soul and Hard Work
The enre project and the progress of the repairs is under the watchful eye of the climber
Libor Uher and his climbing club. As the sawmill’s tenant, he is a strong force behind turning this
browneld into a mulfunconal complex.
The story of this place is not just about wood and bricks, but about perseverance, vision, and
resilience. Aer over a decade of dedicaon, this browneld is nally showing signs of life once
again. As is oen the case with such stories, even this was the labor of a person clinging on to their
dreams. The sawmill charmed Libor Uher, the complex’s current operator, to the point where he
decided to give it a second chance at life. His vision and passion are apparent at every step.
How did you cross paths with the sawmill
and what inspired the renovation?
In 2010 we hosted the first “Beskydy Seven (B7)” race
and its route led through Ostravice. Back then we were
based in a building behind the primary school, and in
2013 we moved the race organisation headquarters
to Ostravice, which meant we were on the hunt for
a facility that could accommodate our sport.
The sawmill was the only place that fit our criteria. When
I first heard of the sawmill and went to take a look at it,
it was love at first sight. I immediately saw the potential
in those ceilings and the wooden construction even
though the complex had been neglected and the halls
were full of old machines. I came up with a vision of what
the halls should look like, I had a clear idea of how the
interior needed to be changed. Making all the necessary
changes into a reality took a long time, however, the
concept is something I came up with very quickly.
We began clearing the complex out in 2014 and by
2017 we launched the reconstruction of the first
hall, the culture hall. Since then the project has been
progressing steadily.
Will the renovated sawmill feature parts
of the original structure?
We want to maintain the industrial character of the
complex, which can be seen in the halls’ interior design
- saw blades from the machines were incorporated into
lighting fixtures, railings or other decorative features.
We didn’t want them to go to the landfill. We wanted
to preserve as much from the original halls as we could
by transforming these items into something new and
giving them new life. Another example of this is the
reception to the basement, which is constructed from
a conveyor belt found at the sawmill. As a link to the
original purpose of the structures, we prominently
featured wood at every corner. The connection
between industry and nature in the hall‘s design is best
underlined by the three trees we decided to use as
load-bearing pillars for the gallery and balcony.
The large chimney, visible even from very far away, is
another prominent feature of the complex, and we
are definitely not planning to tear it down. We plan to
repair it, and I already have an interesting idea as to
how we can make use of it.
You are an athlete, a climber.
Do you have any sort of education
that could aid you in the reconstruction efforts?
I studied mechanical engineering, which has very
limited crossover with this project, though this
education gave me the tools to be able to calculate
load capacity estimations of pillars and such. I have
also spent 20 years as a car mechanic, which taught
me manual labor and the ability to improvise. This
background gave me a little bit of a head start in
learning woodworking and carpentry as part of the
reconstruction, which was necessary, as there were
many things I had to handle on my own.
We want to maintain the industrial
character of the complex, which can be
seen in the halls’ interior design.