The competition for the reconstruction of the burnt Kounic House will be announced by Česká Lípa later this year

Česká Lípa - The town hall in Česká Lípa wants to announce a public competition for the reconstruction of the burnt Kounicova House this year, so that work can begin next spring. Mayor Jitka Volfová (ANO) said this today to ČTK. The monument-protected house was destroyed by fire in May 2015 and has been waiting for restoration since then. The costs have been preliminarily estimated by the designers at more than a quarter of a billion crowns. In the future, the complex will serve the Libertin House for Children and Youth, which currently does not have sufficient rented space.

The bourgeois house, also known as Kounicův, was completed in 1771 by the then owners of the estate, the Kounic family. It was built on the site of the manor brewery, which was destroyed by fires in 1611 and 1698. The house originally served the estate officials; in later years, it housed a salt warehouse, a military hospital, a customs office, a Czech gymnasium, and in the second half of the 20th century, it served the Svazarm. Eight years ago, the house burned down, and the cause was welding work on the roof, which the building lost in the fire.

At the time of the fire, the house was not owned by the city; it belonged to the Association of Sports Unions of the Czech Republic, which did not repair it after the fire. For several years, rain fell into the roofless monument, and it was in a state of emergency. There was a risk not only of its destruction but also of damage to neighboring buildings or injuries to pedestrians. Therefore, in 2019, Česká Lípa bought the house for 1.9 million crowns, and the city invested additional millions into static stabilization, temporary roofing, and preparation for reconstruction.

"The construction will be costly, but we have included it in the budget," the mayor added. Just like the reconstruction of the Jirásek Theater or the construction of an outdoor swimming pool, according to Volfová, the city is prepared to pay for it from its own saved resources. According to the mayor, Česká Lípa has enough money in its funds and does not have to go into debt. After the reconstruction is completed, the Libertin House for Children will move into the building, which will ensure enough space for all activities and further development.