The Skloexport building in Liberec now belongs to the firefighters, who will replace it with a response center

Liberec - The long-unutilized Skloexport building in Liberec has new owners; it was transferred from the Office for Representation of the State in Property Matters (ÚZSVM) to the Fire Rescue Service of the Liberec Region. Governor Martin Půta (Mayors for the Liberec Region) informed journalists about this today. This is also confirmed by information from the Land Registry. The firefighters want to exchange the building with the region, which is financing the construction of a new integrated response center for firefighters, police, and ambulance services in Turnov.

The seven-story Skloexport building was constructed according to the design of architect František Vahala at the corner of Žitavská and 1. máje streets between 1928 and 1930 for the tax and customs administration. The famous exporter of Czech glass acquired it during the communist regime, but the company went bankrupt in the second half of the 1990s, and the state took over the building in 2001. The last tenants left it eight years later. The area, with a floor area of 9,357 square meters, has been unsuccessfully attempted to be sold by the state since 2008.

The city of Liberec previously expressed interest in the area and wanted to acquire the property free of charge. However, an agreement with the state was not reached, and the city council refused to purchase it for the then-requested 67 million. The Liberec Region then wanted to take over the building in the spring of 2022, after the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to adapt it for housing up to 500 Ukrainian refugees but was also unsuccessful. Now the region is expected to obtain it in exchange with the firefighters once the response center in Turnov is completed.

"We want to use it (Skloexport) for the headquarters of some of our organizations and we want to offer it to state institutions, and we also offer the statutory city of Liberec the opportunity to utilize it,” Půta said. The approved regional budget for next year allocates four million crowns for the preparation of a usability study for the building. According to estimates, the area will need reconstruction costing over half a billion crowns.

The construction of the response center for firefighters, traffic police, and ambulance services in Turnov was initiated by the Liberec Region in September. The project, costing 248 million crowns, is expected to be completed within two years. The construction in the Vesecko area, next to road I/10, will be largely financed by the region, with the Ministry of the Interior contributing 110 million crowns. Once completed, the area will be taken over by the firefighters. In exchange, the region is expected to receive not only the Skloexport but also the former hygiene station building in Česká Lípa, a firefighter base in Turnov by the Jizera river, and also land for a parking lot at Výpřež near Ještěd.