The development of Popiełuszko Square dominated the City Council’s latest session. During more than an hour of debate, Cezariusz Rudyk of PO said: “We have to decide about the most beautiful investment site in the city.” He pointed out that as early as a year ago, some councillors, including Platform members, had expressed criticism of the options for developing the square.

“Is this the right way to develop it? Is this the right moment?” Rudyk asked. The councillor recalled the public opposition during Józef Burniak’s presidency to a plan to build a large-format store in the centre of Bolesławiec. He added that the current president, Piotr Roman, had opposed the concept at the time. “Can the combination of a swimming pool with large-format stores be justified substantively? We cannot find such a justification,” Cezariusz Rudyk said on behalf of the PO group. – “We spoke with both urban planners and architects. It is an extremely complicated and very difficult combination.”

Piotr Roman stressed that in 2002 there was no shopping centre either in Legnica or Lubin, and only one in Wrocław. Within six years, the situation changed dramatically. Shopping centres are springing up everywhere. During the discussion, the president also addressed the swimming pool that has been announced for years. He said that a suitable location had been sought for a long time; one concept even envisaged building the pool on the stadium grounds. Ultimately, however, the decision was made to use Popiełuszko Square, where the city authorities want to build a water park, similar to the one in Oleśnica. Councillors are to see the initial construction concept in November.

The president addressed the issue of combining a shopping centre with a swimming pool. He noted that multifunctional combinations are becoming increasingly fashionable in German architecture. According to urban planners there, an unusual combination of facilities can attract people. Roman appealed to the City Council to take a broader view of the square’s development. A large-format store, water park, cinema and International Ceramics Centre – “all concentrated within a radius of several hundred metres,” the president added.

Bogusław Nowak of PO joined the discussion. The councillor asked what the operating costs of the pool would be: “We may aspire to build a palace of culture in the city. But can we, a small municipality, have such enormous megalomaniacal ambitions? Who will finance it in the future?” “I agree with Councillor Nowak,” Piotr Roman admitted. – “Building a swimming pool is not the art; maintaining it is.” He added that the Oleśnica water park was extremely popular, allowing for an optimistic view of the future.

The concept for developing Popiełuszko Square was praised by Lesław Śliwko. He stressed that perhaps other cities would take Bolesławiec as an example in the future. He added, however, that he would not want the history of the square on Łokietka Street to repeat itself: “First, I would like to see a study of the conditions and legal safeguards against speculation in the development plan for Popiełuszko Square.” Piotr Roman assured councillors that if they adopted the resolution, the municipal office would hire a law firm to explain how the municipality could protect itself against investors’ dishonesty. “I have concerns about this order of events,” stated Dominik Chodyra, a councillor associated with the governing coalition in the city.

Despite the objections, the Council adopted the resolution on the local spatial development plan for Popiełuszko Square. PO councillors, Lesław Śliwko and Dominik Chodyra voted against it. Stanisław Andrusieczko of SLD abstained.

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