History

The building was erected between 1912 and 1913, on the basis of a design created by Feliks Nowicki (1840-1920) - an architect from Piotrków, educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. He also designed the building of the Governorate Court.

The building was built for purposes of the social and cultural activities of the Mutual Assistance Association of Craftsmen and Merchants of the City of Piotrków. It was erected in Alexander Avenue, which at that time was turning into one of the most elegant streets of the 19th century Piotrków. The building housed a concert hall, a meeting room, a cafeteria, shops and a gym.

The Association was transformed into the Union of Christian Craftsmen in Piotrków and used the building until 1953. Then it became the property of the State Treasury and was converted into the Voivodeship Cultural Centre. Since 1999, the building has served as the Municipal Cultural Centre in Piotrków.

Description

The building is situated in the central part of 19th-century Piotrków, on the eastern side of Aleja 3 Maja, to the south of the Old Town. The building is set back in relation to the street frontage. The frontage here is delimited by low, brick fences which surround the lawn in front of the building. On both sides of the lawn, there are driveways providing access to the building. In the southern wing, there is a gate leading to a spacious yard, the boundaries of which are delimited by the outbuilding from the north and by the gable wall of the neighbouring building from the south. There is also a small residential building and a gym in the yard.

The building represents the style of modernized Classicism. The façade is flanked by a pair of avant-corpses and is divided by rhythmically spaced pilasters. The symmetry is disrupted by the different width of the avant-corpses.

The building was erected on an L-shaped floor plan – the front building on a rectangular floor plan, with each elevation flanked by two avant-corpses, and an outbuilding from the north, on a rectangular floor plan. It has a compact structure. The front building is two-storey and covered with a mansard roof with three oculi. The three-storey avant-corpses – the northern one-axial and the southern three-axial – are covered with flat roofs A connector provides a passageway to the three-storey outbuilding. The outbuilding is covered with a shed roof. From the north, the outbuilding is adjoined by a one-storey building of the gym, covered with a shed roof.

It is made from solid ceramic bricks. Plastered. In the cellars, the ceiling are based on a segmental arch. On the ground floor, there is a wooden ceiling and the rooms next to the gate have ceilings based on a segmental arch. The coach gateway is covered with a Klein’s ceiling. The hall on the first floor has a vault based on an elliptical arch with lunettes. The wooden roof truss has a rafter-collar beam and mansard structure. Over the gym, there are transverse rigid frames. The roofs are covered with chequered metal sheet (originally, the mansard roof was covered with slates) and bituminous felt on a timber deck. The building has concrete, ceramic and terrazzo floors, as well as plank and parquet floors. The internal stairs are two-flight, with landings. The main stairs are made of concrete with a terrazzo finish and have a railing made from cast and forged metal. In the outbuilding, there are concrete stairs and wooden steps leading to the attic with a wooden balustrade. On the first floor, there are metal stairs with a metal railing. On the first floor, there is a terrace with a baluster railing, with cement balusters. On the balcony, in the auditorium, there is a metal lattice railing. The frame-panelled doors have one or two wings. There are also sliding doors. PVC windows. The window openings are rectangular, topped with a full arch or oval-shaped. Of special interest are the windows of the auditorium on the first floor. The PCV windows repeat the divisions of the original windows. The windows are wide, tripartite, six-pane with an arched and curved transom bar. Panes separated by muntins.

The front elevation has seven axes on the ground floor and nine axes on the upper floors. It has rusticated strips on the ground floor and is smoothly plastered above. Articulated with pilaster strips. Asymmetrical. The five axes of the principal block are flanked by avant-corpses. The northern one is one-axial and the southern one is three-axial. The main entrance is placed on the ground floor in the northern avant-corps. It has a wide, rectangular opening. It is preceded by four-step stairs, leading to the terrace in front of the central axis of the building. Above the entrance, there is a balcony slab based on corbels. On the second-storey of the avant-corps, there is a wide, rectangular, flat-headed window opening in a profiled surround. Further above, there is a window opening, closed with a full arch, highlighted by profiled plasterwork. The frame ornamentation includes two pilaster strips on high plinths with Corinthian capitals. The wall of the avant-corps is crowned with a profiled cornice. On the ground floor in the southern avant-corps, there is the opening of the coach gateway, topped with a full arch. Next to it, there is a deep recess whose outline matches the shape of the gate. Above, the wall is articulated by pilaster strips, which are two-storey high and separate the window openings. The pilaster strips are set on high plinths with decorative panels topped with Corinthian capitals. In the corners, there are double pilaster strips. In the axes, there are rectangular openings. The wall of the avant-corps is crowned with a profiled cornice. The central part of the elevation is five-axial, with a terrace on the first floor, supported by corbels. Two square-section pillars are placed on the terrace of the ground floor. On the ground floor, there are four window openings and one entrance opening. The terrace has a five-span balustrade supported by balusters. The spans are separated by posts with tall lamps. On the first floor, the elevation is articulated by pilasters with Tuscan capitals, which separate five window openings, each topped with a full arch. The arches are emphasized by a profiled frame. The balcony railing is similar to the terrace railing, with cement vases on posts. The wall is crowned with an under-eaves cornice. Above, there is a slope of the mansard roof, with five oculi placed on the axes of the window openings.

The eastern elevation is smoothly plastered and has five axes on the ground floor and eight axes above. Above the openings of the ground floor, there is a narrow, profiled cornice. On the southernmost axis, there is the opening of the coach gateway. Above, there are rectangular window openings. On the middle axis, there are rectangular recesses matching the size of the window openings. The windows on the ground floor are rectangular. The windows on the first floor have semicircular tops. The wall is crowned with an eaves cornice. On the third axis from the south, there is a glazed elevator shaft.

On the first floor of the building, there is an auditorium which has retained its original décor. The walls are crowned with a profiled cornice. The five-bay vault is based on corbel arches and corbels. The lunettes feature stucco decoration in the form of laurel wreaths fastened with a decorative ribbon at the bottom. The balcony in the auditorium rests on massive supports. Its balustrade is made from bent flat bars which are volute-shaped. The internal stairs are fitted with a similar balustrade.

The building can be visited during the opening hours of the Municipal Cultural Centre and during organized events. Contact details: Municipal Cultural Centre, 97-300 Piotrków Trybunalski, al. 3 Maja 12, tel. 44 732 52 37, email: kancelaria@mok.piotrkow.pl

Compiled by Agnieszka Lorenc-Karczewska, National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź 1 April 2020

Bibliography

• Głowacki K., Urbanistyka Piotrkowa Trybunalskiego, Piotrków Trybunalski – Kielce 1984.
• Szelągowska Ewa, Record sheet of monuments of architecture and construction, 1994, Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Łódź, National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Warsaw