In the Industrial Zone Next to the Former František Mine, Mining Locomotives are Manufactured

HORNÍ SUCHÁ – After 99 years from its opening and 11 years after its closing, the František Mine at Horní Suchá came back to life again. On the first Tuesday of May, the industrial zone was inaugurated and, at the same time, one of the repaired access roads was opened.

At the former pit known as the “President Gottwald Mine“, 150 million crowns were spent both for redevelopment and for the construction of new buildings. “The industrial zone was established as a so-called brownfield site where some buildings and utilities were used,“ said Village Mayor Jan Lipner.

Representatives of the Irish and British investors were also present. They expect that the local operations will provide employment to as many as a thousand people. For the time being, the František site offered jobs to about three hundred of persons. They produce plastic materials for medical and pharmaceutical services… and they assemble suspended mine locomotives!

“We can finally say that we did it. However, only one third of the zone is occupied, so eventually, a thousand jobs could become a reality,“ Mr. Lipner concluded. The local council of Horní Suchá, a village with 4500 inhabitants, considers job creation as one of its priorities.

The František Mine named after the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand d´Este, was the youngest in the Ostrava and Karvina district until new pits were opened during the communist regime. Its skip tower still stands and dominates the industrial park.

(Soňa Klapcová, Radek Lukša)