The former building of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia located at Plac Sejmu Śląskiego 1 in Katowice has a new owner. It is the Court of Appeal in Katowice which will manage the property from 28 February 2023.
Although the building at Plac Sejmu Śląskiego 1 was not built with didactic purposes in mind, it served the academic community for a long time. When in 1990 a decision was made to move part of the then Faculty of Philology from Sosnowiec, Polish philology, library science, cultural studies and classical philology found their place here[1]. After 30 years of using the building, the Katowice part of the Faculty of Humanities received a new home, which is located in a modernised building on ul. Uniwersytecka 4.
The University of Silesia has launched the procedure for the sale of the property under public proceedings. Two tender procedures were announced successively, in which the Court of Appeal was the only bidder, but as a result of the presented financial conditions, the University did not accept the offers in either the first or the second tender procedure. Therefore, the third negotiation procedure was announced, during which the parties reached an agreement.
On Thursday, 29 December 2022, the property at Plac Sejmu Śląski 1 in Katowice was sold for PLN 27 million to the State Treasury – Court of Appeals in Katowice. The building will be used for the Katowice Zachód District Court.
[1] See Ascetyczny moloch [W]: “Gazeta Uniwersytecka UŚ” (USil Magazine) No. 5 (145) February 2007 and Wyrósł z dobrego drzewa… Uniwersytet Śląski 1968–1998. Fakty, dokumenty, relacje. Scientific supervision Antoni Barciak, Antoni Barciak et al. Katowice 1998, p. 44.
The building at Plac Sejmu Śląskiego 1. Photo by University of Silesia