Colossal Cold War era hotel demolished
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
29.09.2014 17:32
A 15-storey hotel that opened at the tail-end of the communist era in Jastrzebie-Zdroj, southern Poland, is being demolished.
Demolition of Hotel Diament, Jastrzebie-Zdroj. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel
Annual maintenance costs for the former Hotel Diament (Hotel Diamond), which ceased to accommodate guests in recent years, have risen to about 680,000 zloty (162,709 euro).
Prior to the demolition, the building was being used as the headquarters of an insurance company.
Coal firm Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa, current owners of the building, plans on building a smaller edifice on the site.
The Hotel Diament, which opened in Februrary 1989, just months before the collapse of communism, was once considered a symbol of luxury.
Like many such hotels from the era, it has not managed to ride out the transformation to a capitalist economy. (nh)
Source: PAP