Brno Mayor: The renovation of the Tugendhat villa will start next year

Brno - The Mayor of Brno, Roman Onderka (ČSSD), is convinced that the reconstruction of the functionalist villa Tugendhat, which is on the UNESCO list, will start next year. In yesterday's discussion program of Czech Television, Questions of Václav Moravec, he stated that the repairs could begin in the second quarter of 2008. Delays in the reconstruction, according to him, could increase the cost of the restoration.
    The selection procedure for the contractor could be announced at the beginning of next year, the mayor said. The estimated costs for the reconstruction of the villa are between 120 and 150 million crowns. For next year, the city of Brno is expected to allocate 45 to 50 million crowns for the start of the restoration. "I am convinced that the city of Brno will find financial resources in its budget to repair this villa," he said.
    With reference to legal opinions, Onderka does not believe that the villa could be endangered by ownership disputes. The city decided in March of this year that it would not voluntarily hand over the villa to the descendants of its original owners. The Brno city councilors disagreed with its unconditional transfer, as the legal conditions for such a transfer were allegedly not fulfilled.
    Although the councilors originally acknowledged the family's claim for the return of the villa and approved that the city should transfer it to the state, which would then return it to the heirs, the state refused to take possession of the monument. In March, the councilors revised their earlier decision. The lawyer of the Tugendhat siblings disagreed with the decision and acknowledged that the descendants would seek to reclaim the villa through the courts.
    Onderka and the architect and head of the management of the Tugendhat villa, Iveta Černá, did not agree today during the CT program on how significant the risk is that the descendants of the original owners of the villa will turn to the court for its return. "I believe that the Tugendhat family is only interested in one thing - that the villa is reconstructed as soon as possible, they are not interested in financial or other profit," said Onderka. Černá, on the other hand, stated that she feels a "certain risk."
    The villa has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2001. The conservation work was supposed to begin a year later. However, its start has been repeatedly postponed due to disputes among the teams that participated in the selection process for the designer.