A department store was opened on the site of the burned-down casino in Brno

Brno - A department store called Letmo was opened today on the site of the burned-out casino opposite the main train station in Brno, known locally as the "House of Horror." The renovation of the building destroyed by fire in 2002 cost over 300 million crowns, said Zdeněk Filípek, head of the development company IFM Group to ČTK. The first customers can visit Letmo on Thursday, with about 60 percent of all stores currently occupied.
    The building has two underground and eight above-ground floors. The shops in the building will be filled gradually, as the last three floors are still waiting for occupancy permits. According to the investor, by the end of the summer, Letmo will be around 85 percent occupied. Filípek mentioned that there might later be platforms with telescopes on the top floor, allowing views of the surrounding area.
    The façade of the new building has elicited various responses from many local residents. It is white with irregularly shaped large windows. "We selected from many designs. In the end, we wanted something that would stand out," said Filípek. However, according to him, the renovation of the fire-damaged and dilapidated building was complicated mainly due to legal obligations related to the property.
    Today, a memorial to the heroic act of two firefighters was also unveiled in the department store, who during the casino fire in January 2002 attempted to rescue a croupier trapped by the flames in the building. However, both firefighters and the croupier ultimately became victims of the fire. "This building has a tragic history associated with it. The firefighters received a report during the fire that one of the employees had not found a way out, so they tried to locate and rescue him. Unfortunately, due to the intensity of the fire, they sacrificed their lives here," said Petr Oháňka from the Fire Rescue Service.