Zajezdnia History Centre: opening and admission [PHOTOS, VIDEO]

The Zajezdnia History Centre is now three months away from completion. With technical validation in July, the last installation works are expected to finish by 25 August. The formal opening gala is scheduled for 28 August.

"The opening of the Centre overlaps with the 36th anniversary of the August Accords and rise of Solidarity," says Wojciech Kucharski, PhD, Head of the Remembrance and Future Centre, Wroclaw. The wROCK for Freedom 2016 Festival is going to celebrate the occasion. The line-up features bands such as Illusion and Sabaton.

Wroclaw rising inside: family passes for 15 PLN

The former bus depot in ul Grabiszyńska is now seeing the installation of the exhibition Wroclaw 1945–2016. The setting designed to resemble Wroclaw is now being developed. You can see the houses, some of them have windows fitted. A multi-storey house with a staircase and a lift is being developed. You can see the structure of a town house from the Eastern part of inter-war Poland, the components of a news-stand from Communist Poland, a butcher's and a prison cell.

"Everyone can come and sit on the benches or do some roller-skating," says Wojciech Kucharski.

Admission prices at the Centre will be as follows: adult ticket 10 PLN, family pass 15 PLN (parents and children).

Join a virtual tour of the Centre.

No protective footgear or closed cabinets

The Centre has also a newly developed basement. Level 1 features an exhibition devoted to anti-Communist opposition in Poland, including Home Army, cursed soldiers, Solidarity and Orange Alternative. An exhibition is now being developed on the residents of Wroclaw and Lower Silesia from 1945. The exhibits include several thousand photographs of Wroclaw and a selection of 900 accounts provided by migrants after World War II. The exhibition also sheds light on times that are more contemporary, including the Eucharistic Congress and the flood of the Millenium.

"There will be no protective footgear or closed cabinets in the museum. You will be able to touch everything. We were inspired by an interactive approach visible in the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising. Designed by the Wroclaw-based artist Marek Stanielewicz, the setting is going to play a huge role in the project. The artist is known to have collaborated with with the Centre as part of the "Solidarity in Wroclaw" exhibition in Plac Społeczny," says Juliusz Woźny, Spokesperson at the "Remembrance and Future" Centre.

Access for the residents

The Centre's interiors teeming with builders, the area around the building is nonetheless accessible to visitors. The fence that separated the bus depot from the neighbourhood is no longer there.

"Everyone can come and sit on the benches or do some roller-skating," says Wojciech Kucharski.

The area around the Centre is particularly attractive to roller-skaters. They are drawn by its smooth concrete surface.

"I come here roller-skating with my son, Mikołaj, at least two or three times a week. I can also see people drive here from other parts of the city, as they leave their cars in the car park. This is the first such place in the Grabiszyńska area. Formerly I had to go roller-skating to the IKEA car park in ul Graniczna," says Agnieszka from Oporów.

More changes are under way in the former depot area. The nearby bus stop in ul Grabiszyńska, which is now called "Bzowa", will change its name to "Zajezdnia". The construction of the Centre began in 2015.