Today, the City Council of Katowice passed the budget for 2011. A total income will amount PLN 1 billion 424 million, total expenditures will be at around PLN 1 billion 815 million. Nearly PLN 191 million of the PLN 391 million budgetary deficit will be covered from the European Investment Bank (EIB). It is estimated that PLN 42,9 million of capital expenditures will be spent for the first stage of the City Center redevelopment.
The first stage of the project includes a redevelopment of tram lines from the “Rialto” movie theatre, through the Market Square, to the “J. Ziętka” Roundabout. According to PAP (Polish Press Agency) construction works are supposed to be started in mid-2011. By this time, the City Hall wants to finish a designing process and launch a tendering procedure.
The tram line’s redevelopment will be parted. The line between “Rialto” and the Market Square is planned to be revamped in the first instance. Then, the works will be moving from the Square to Moniuszki Street, and finally the section from Moniuszki to the Roundabout is going to be redeveloped in the last third phase. After the tram line’s redevelopment, the next stage is to rebuild the “Rawa” river’s bed.
The transformation process of the City Center correspond to foundations of Tomasz Konior’s planning brief and the redevelopment plan of Polish-Spanish consortium chosen in 2009 as the planner for the Market Square – Roundabout area.
source: PAP