Brno is unlikely to absorb 200 million for the establishment of the Creative Center

Brno - Brno is unlikely to submit a request for a grant of 200 million crowns for the establishment of a Creative Center, which is to be created for artists to meet in the former prison on Cejl Street at a cost of hundreds of millions. The deadline for submission is April 30, but the issuance of the planning decision has not been resolved, which is one of the basic conditions for the application, said Brno's culture councilor Marek Fišer (Pirates) to ČTK today. According to him, the city is negotiating the possibility of an individual call or submitting an application to a similar program next year.

The imminent expiration of the deadline was highlighted to journalists by former deputy mayor responsible for culture Matěj Hollan (Žít Brno), who worked on the Creative Center project. He is no longer in the council. According to him, a planning decision must be issued for a grant application, and documentation for a building permit is needed. The project, according to Hollan, does not have the planning decision, and Brno will lose the opportunity to draw 200 million. Another 150 million was promised from the Ministry of Culture for the establishment of the Memory Place.

Fišer stated that the city submitted the request for a planning decision to the building authority back in April last year, but the opponents challenged it for systemic bias. "The process of addressing is still ongoing. There is a thirty-day deadline for addressing each level, and an appeal can be made against the decision, which the complainants are using. Unfortunately, we cannot influence this situation," said Fišer.

According to him, considering the April 30 deadline, it is unrealistic to submit the project to the program. Fišer said that the city is negotiating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade about the possibility of an individual call. "Alternatively, we are considering submitting an application in 2021 to a similar call that is to be announced within the future period of European structural funds," Fišer added. He stated that the city wants to work on the project.

In the area, independent and shared offices, studios for artists, open workshops, editing rooms, a café, a music club, or a hall with a capacity for 250 people could be created for 350 to 400 million. The prison was established in the 18th century. It served its purpose from 1784 to 1956. It was replaced by the prison in Bohunice.