On 6 July, the Warsaw City Council considered and unanimously outvoted the petition to give the name Plac Konesera to the area on which Koneser Praga Center is situated. It is going to be a new meeting place and cultural center of Praga. Plac Konesera will be erected in the very heart of the district in the neighborhood of the creative and innovative businesses as well as restaurants and cultural centers. The official opening of this investment and the square is planned on spring 2018.
Praga Koneser Center is a 5-ha investment which is situated in the urban block of Ząbkowska, Markowska, Białostocka and Nieporęcka Streets on the area of the former Warsaw Vodka Factory. The revitalization of this place includes both adaptation of historical facilities and building of new ones.
As an investor who has been operating in Praga for 20 years as well as a person for whom maintenance of historical awareness and preservation of Praga cultural heritage are of great importance, I considered applying for the name Plac Konesera as a natural reaction and even a kind of duty. This is the most effective way of strengthening associations with this place and its former functions among both inhabitants of Warsaw and tourists as well as promotion of Praga, an invitation to visit this peculiar place. After six months of intense works, we can finally say that Warsaw gained a new cultural center, whereas Praga – the first square at this bank of the Vistula which combines the following functions: services, businesses, museums, restaurants, or residencies. This is our mutual success – says Rafał Szczepański, Vice-President of BBI Development, one of the owners of Praga Koneser Center.
The Honorary Committee of this initiative put forward a motion to assign a name to this place which could refer to the past. The motion to the Warsaw Council was signed by people who are engaged in development of the capital, people who are known from their business activities for the city as well as the representatives of the world of culture and art, including Aleksandra Wasilkowska, Mirosław Nizio, Czesław Mozil, or Joanna Erbel. The proposal of the name Plac Konesera was positively assessed by the inhabitants of Warsaw, community workers and local authorities. The motion was supported by more than 400 individuals.
We would like to thank to all people who have recently put a lot of effort into giving the name Plac Konesera as well as to local authorities which understood and supported this motion. As the investors, we can state with full responsibility that we will do our best not to disappoint them. Our primary goal is therefore to make Praga Koneser Center and Plac Konesera a showpiece of the city of Warsaw, which will have relaxation and meeting places open for everyone. We would like to invest in Praga and take care of its intensive development, for we believe that this district still has a great potential – sums up Mariusz Kozłowski, Chairman of the Board of Liebrecht & wooD Poland.
The name Plac Konesera will be included in the City Information System. Then, proper markings will be present on the streets, in the means of public communication, or on the maps.