Former military facilities in Kladno will be primarily used by schools

KLADNO - The Kladno City Council wants to utilize military properties obtained through a free transfer from the Ministry of Defense for educational and social services purposes. The main building of the former district military administration is to be transformed into dormitories for students from three universities operating in Kladno. The city council is in discussions with a church school about the use of additional buildings, which had to reduce the number of students in the second grade this year due to capacity reasons.
"We will also offer the vacant spaces to various volunteer and non-profit organizations, and we would like to use other areas as parking spaces," said Kladno Mayor Dan Jiránek to ČTK today.
The government approved the free transfer of approximately 40 buildings and plots of land from the army's property to municipalities on Wednesday. The Ministry of Defense offered the properties to the municipalities after no other state authorities showed interest in them. According to the ministry, municipalities will receive the properties with all accessories, including communications, parking lots, and engineering networks.
The ministry anticipates that this year it will remove real estate worth approximately 4.8 billion crowns. Next year, the army plans to remove assets worth 400 million crowns, and in 2007, assets worth 2.7 billion crowns.
Some cities have already acquired army property in the past. For example, in Rakovník, the former barracks building Na Hané is used as accommodation for defaulters. In Beroun, the Red Cross operates a shelter in the area of former barracks and plans to build a Community Center for Social Services in the future. Additionally, an Italian investment group is expected to start building new apartments in part of the area next year.
The situation is different in Unhošť in Kladno, where the former military repair plant Traktorka was also obtained through a free transfer from the Ministry of Defense. However, the property remains unused because the city is still finalizing the terms of its sale to a private owner with an interested party. The Prague company MS REAL intends to begin construction of several dozen so-called starter apartments here.