Transformation
(1992 – currently)
In 1992, after coal deposits were exhausted, the Pstrowski Mine decided to liquidate the entire Maciej Shaft area at the bottom and on the surface. Mining Company DEMEX Sp. z o.o., established two years earlier, proposed to the Mine to abandon the liquidation of the Shaft, to innovatively transform it into a deep-water intake and to buy out the entire complex of buildings. In December 1993, the project came to fruition and the pumps of Poland’s first shaft water intake were put into operation. Soon DEMEX began renovation and conservation work to protect the buildings and equipment from progressive deterioration, entered the buildings and equipment of the complex in the register of monuments, and developed a comprehensive program to revitalize the former mining facility with adaptation for tourism purposes, with a view to protecting and utilizing the created water intake.
In 2005, Maciej Shaft was placed on the Industrial Monuments Route, and DEMEX began intensive work included in the Revitalization Program. In 2011, in the Competition Zabytek Zadbany, of the General Conservator of Monuments, DEMEX was awarded the Diploma of Laureate for its exemplary concept of adapting the engine room of Maciej Shaft for tourist purposes.
See also
Water in the shaft