Silesia City Center
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Silesia City Center is a shopping mall in Katowice, Silesia, Poland. It was opened in 2005 and it is one of the biggest malls in Europe.
Its total area covers a few thousand square metres, of which 650 000 sq metres is a trade zone, 100 000 sq metres is a housing estate and 600 000 sq metres is an office site. It is situated in Katowice along 107 Chorzowska Road (the land previously belonged to the coal mine KWK Gottwald). The edifice was opened 18 November 2005. An investor is Hungarian company - TriGranit Development Corporation.
Inside
In total, in Silesia City Center there are almost 850 shops, 40 cinema chambers (Cinema City), the centre of entertainment Fun City (with amusement arcade, club, billiards and bowling alley), banks and restaurants. On a rooftop there is a garden. There are partly underground car parks for 3000 cars as well (a red and a blue one), two guarded car parks and a free one for bicycles. Inside, in Tropical Square, there is a fountain, whose water is flipped approximately 13 metres up. The centre is divided into 43 avenues, named after main cities in Śląsk and Zagłębie Region, and 145 squares, acting as places facilitating meetings and leisure. Shops are situated round these squares and avenues, whose total length amounts over 10 kilometre.
In January 2007 on SSC's area new points enabling access to the Internet were introduced. The Internet is available also in Tropical Square and the centre of entertainment Fun City.
SSC has prepared payable skating rink, cloakrooms and skate hiring which are to be open from December to March.
Surroundings
Historic buildings of a former mine, situated in a central point – nearby the entrance to the new object – have been restored, and their function has changed. Antique tower of a shaft ‘Jerzy’ is a symbol of combination the past with the future. Outside, exhibits connected with mining are assembled. Their aim is to remind of the former nature of this place. In a restored building there are, for example, the art gallery of an Almi Decor company and SCC management's headquarters. Nearby, there is also a Saint Barbara's chapel (a patron saint of miners), which was consecrated 3 December 2005.
Plans
At present, the new housing estate Dębowe Tarasy, forming SSC and situated in the north part of the complex, is under construction. It is a second phase of building urban centre. All the dwellings in Dębowe Tarasy have already been sold (September 2007).
Silesia Towers means a complex of two towers along 109 Chorzowska Road, which construction began in December 2007. Finishing construction of a lower one is planned by the end of 2009 and the higher one by the middle of 2010.
Tower blocks will stand up in a neighbourhood of the shopping centre SCC and the housing estate Dębowe Tarasy, opposite the Silesia Business Center. They will form a kind of a gateway to City of Katowice from Chorzów.
The buildings will be modern office blocks A-class. They will be connected with SCC by a terrestrial tunnel. The author of a project is the most famous Polish architect Stefan Kuryłowicz (his completed plans are e.g. PLL LOT and Prosta Tower in Warsaw).
The buildings are the third part of the scheme realized by Hungarian developer – after the shopping mall and the housing estate. Tower blocks will be equipped with modern monitor and lift system. The higher one will be the tallest building in Katowice, leading the current title – holder Altus.
References
External links
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Coordinates: 50°16′11″N 19°00′15″E / 50.26972°N 19.00417°E
