The difficult path to the creation of the Creative CenterNeľahká cesta vzniku Kreatívneho centra
The journey of our Creative Center Fablab TnUNI began gradually, at times tortuous, sometimes with blind turns and sometimes with longer breaks, but ultimately with a happy ending.Cesta nášho Kreatívneho centra Fablab TnUNI sa začala postupne, chvíľami bola kľukatá, občas i so slepými odbočkami a niekedy aj s dlhšími prestávkami, ale nakoniec so šťastným koncom.
The original idea for the creation of the Creative Center arose back in 2017, when we as a university joined a consortium with the Trenčín Self-Governing Region and the city of Trenčín. The vision was to build one large creative center on the premises of the former Merina plant in Trenčín, specifically in the building of the former dyehouse, part of which is now declared a technical cultural monument, including the iconic “Sovička”, the building of the first mazut power plant in Trenčín, which supplied electricity to the Merina plant and the city of Trenčín during the First Czechoslovak Republic.
Originally intended building for the KC in the consortium of TSK and the city of Trenčín in 2017 in the Merina areaPôvodne zamýšľaná budova pre KC v konzorciu TSK a mesta Trenčín roku 2017 v areály Merina
A preliminary Architectural Study and a Feasibility Study of the possible establishment, operation, financing and focus of the Creative Center in Trenčín were prepared. The current state of the creative industry in the region, its strengths and opportunities for development and professionalization were also analyzed in detail. A building was selected for a comprehensive reconstruction, financial resources were prepared for its purchase, a functional consortium and a project board were created.Bola spracovaná predbežná Architektonická štúdia a Štúdia uskutočniteľnosti možného vzniku, fungovania, financovania a zamerania Kreatívneho centra v Trenčíne. Podrobne analyzovaný bol aj aktuálny stav kreatívneho priemyslu v regióne, jeho silné stránky a príležitosti na rozvoj a profesionalizáciu. Bola vytipovaná budova na komplexnú rekonštrukciu, pripravené finančné zdroje na jej odkúpenie, vytvorené funkčné konzorcium a projektová rada.
In 2017, meetings were also held with creatives and artists in the regions, where the intention of the operation of the Creative Center was presented. All that was waiting was for the announcement of a project call by the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic so that the planned project plan could be submitted and applied for funding. And there it all froze. The call was finally announced two years later and with completely different rules than originally presented. The applicant could no longer be a consortium, but its individual members separately.V roku 2017 sa uskutočnili aj stretnutia s kreatívcami a umelcami v regiónoch, kde bol predstavený zámer fungovania Kreatívneho centra. Čakalo sa len na vyhlásenie projektovej výzvy zo strany Ministerstva kultúry SR, aby sa mohol plánovaný projektový zámer podať a uchádzať sa o financovanie. A tam to celé zamrzlo. Výzva bola napokon vyhlásená až o dva roky a s úplne inými pravidlami, ako sa pôvodne prezentovalo. Žiadateľom už nemohlo byť konzorcium, ale jeho jednotliví členovia samostatne.
Since building a modern Creative Center is a very demanding investment project, it is not possible to implement it without project financing. Therefore, we had to flexibly change the strategy and start preparing the project plan of the University Creative Center without the participation of partners. The city of Trenčín, which had a project for the reconstruction of the functionalist Hviezda cinema, followed a similar approach. Therefore, in December 2019, 2 projects were submitted for the establishment of Creative Centers in Trenčín (one project was submitted by the City of Trenčín and the other by our university).Keďže vybudovať moderné Kreatívne centrum je veľmi náročný investičný zámer, nie je možné ho realizovať bez projektového financovania. Preto sme museli flexibilne zmeniť stratégiu a spustiť prípravu projektového zámeru Univerzitného Kreatívneho centra bez účasti partnerov. Obdobne postupovalo aj mesto Trenčín, ktoré malo pripravený projekt na rekonštrukciu funkcionalistického kina Hviezda. V decembri 2019 boli preto podané 2 projekty pre vznik Kreatívnych centier v Trenčíne (jeden projekt podalo Mesto Trenčín a druhý podala naša univerzita).
And so it happened that two creative centers are currently growing in Trenčín, which will, however, complement each other synergistically. One center is being built by the city of Trenčín in the building of the former Hviezda cinema and has a primary focus on the cultural industry. The second is our university creative center # FabLab TnUNI, which has a focus on the creative industry. We look forward to cooperation and if the candidacy of the city of Trenčín for the European Capital of Culture 2026 is successful (we will find out about this within the next month), it will be a very intensive cooperation.A tak sa stalo, že v Trenčíne aktuálne vyrastú dve kreatívne centrá, ktoré sa však budú navzájom synergicky dopĺňať. Jedno centrum buduje mesto Trenčín v budove bývalého kina Hviezda a má primárne zameranie na kultúrny priemysel. Druhé je to to naše univerzitné kreatívne centrum # FabLab TnUNI, ktoré má zameranie na kreatívny priemysel. Tešíme sa na spoluprácu a pokiaľ bude úspešná kandidatúra mesta Trenčín na hlavné európske mesto kultúry 2026 (to sa dozvieme už v priebehu nasledujúceho mesiaca), tak to bude veľmi intenzívna spolupráca.
The Faculty of Special Technology was strategically selected as the internal university partner of the Creative Center as the technical faculty in Trenčín, which with its expertise and know-how will cover the Creative Center FabLab TnUNI. That is why the center was located on the university campus in Trenčín-Záblatí.Interným univerzitným partnerom Kreatívneho centra bola strategicky vybraná Fakulta špeciálnej techniky ako technická fakulta v Trenčíne, ktorá svojou odbornosťou a know how bude zastrešovať Kreatívne centrum FabLab TnUNI. Preto sa centrum umiestnilo do univerzitného areálu v Trenčíne-Záblatí.
Obtaining financing was not that easy, as is often the case in project financing of large investment projects. At the end of 2020, the evaluation results were published and unfortunately our project plan was not approved for financing in the 1st stage. Despite the fact that it met all the criteria and was positively evaluated. Due to the impact of the Covid pandemic, the resources allocated to the project call were reduced during the evaluation process and transferred to other priorities related to the Covid pandemic. It was a great disappointment for us, but it did not break us and we tried to initiate alternative forms of project financing. We believed that we would be able to find financing for our project.Získanie financovania nebolo až také jednoduché, ostatne ako sa to v projektovom financovaní veľkých investičných projektov často stáva. Koncom roka 2020 boli zverejnené výsledky hodnotenia a bohužiaľ náš projektový zámer nebol v 1. etape schválený na financovanie. I napriek tomu, že splnil všetky kritéria a bol pozitívne hodnotený. Vplyvom Covid pandémie totiž prišlo pri procese hodnotenia k zníženiu alokovaných zdrojov na projektovú výzvu a ich presunutie na iné priority súvisiace s Covid pandémiou. Bolo to pre nás veľké sklamanie, ale nezlomilo nás to a snažili sme sa iniciovať alternatívne formy projektového financovania. Verili sme že sa podarí nájsť financovanie na náš projekt.
After difficult negotiations, it was successful! In April 2021, an additional increase in resources in the project call was launched, and in August 2021, a contract for a non-refundable financial contribution in the amount of 4.066 million Euros was signed.Po náročných rokovaniach sa to aj podarilo! V apríli 2021 sa rozbehlo dodatočné navyšovanie zdrojov v projektovej výzve a v auguste 2021 bola podpísaná zmluva o nenávratnom finančnom príspevku v sume 4, 066 mil Eur.
The preparation of the project plan of the university creative center was a team effort, a big thank you goes to everyone who believed in our vision and especially to the people who were at the birth, but are no longer with us.Príprava projektového zámeru univerzitného kreatívneho centra bola tímová práca, veľká vďaka patrí všetkým, ktorí verili našej vízií a najmä ľudom ktorí stáli pri zrode, ale už s nami nepokračujú.
We are at the beginning of the construction, we are currently offering services in the field of 3D printing and scanning. It is already certain that the Creative Center will be created and we will gradually present our vision to you in further blogs, specifically services for creatives, technical equipment, future members and life in the center.Sme na začiatku budovania, aktuálne už ponúkame služby v oblasti 3D tlače a skenovania. Je už teraz isté, že Kreatívne centrum vznikne a postupne v ďalších blogoch Vám budeme predstavovať naše vízie, konkrétne služby pre kreatívcov, technické vybavenie, budúcich členov a život v centre.
On behalf of the Creative Center project team #FabLab TnUNIZa projektový tím Kreatívneho Centra #FabLab TnUNI
Tomáš Hanulík
Informačné stretnutie s kreatívcami na pôde univerzity ku koncepcii KC ešte v roku 2017