Several generations of Ivan Hronec‘ family come from Kokava nad Rimavicou, so we have a very personal, warm relationship with the village and we care about its future development. Our personal relationship with Kokava led us to the decision to save the dilapidated historic building of the Old School, which was used for education for many decades, from 1913 to 1990. First as a city school, later as an agricultural school, the Forestry Master School and finally as a special-purpose facility for forestry and water workers in the Slovak Republic. In the 1990s it fell into private hands and has since fallen into disrepair.

We bought the building in 2020 with purpose to save it.

With a great deal of enthusiasm, last year we embarked on the first phase of reconstruction, namely cleaning the building. We took out tons of garbage, grained dirty, damp and moldy parts of the walls, sorted old things, among which we discovered some interesting things from school times.

The Municipal Office in Kokava and several great and hardworking people from Kokava helped with the initial phase.

And plans for the future? Our main goal is to revitalize the building and return it to the original mission, namely education and cultural and social activities for the inhabitants of this region. The intention is to build a cultural, art and educational hub with a focus on the glassmaking tradition of this region, which has flourished in the area since the 18th century.

Education is a way to get to know each other, and it is in the Old School that we want to try this mission. We know that the road to this task is a long one, but we believe that it is useful and beneficial for the region.

On behalf of Hornec family - Ivan Hronec, Silvia Hroncová, Veronika Hroncová Žilinková, Dominik Hronec