The completion of the House of Culture Poklad in Ostrava will be halted again

Ostrava - The completion of the Cultural House Poklad in the Ostrava district of Poruba will once again be halted. The city wants to reach an agreement with the construction contractor to terminate their collaboration on the renovation of the building. The city leadership is dissatisfied not only with the quality of some works but also with the delays in construction and disputes regarding the valuation of additional works. This was stated to journalists today by Deputy Mayor Břetislav Riger (Ostravak). The building has been previously put on hold. According to the companies working on the renovation, many works necessary for completing the reconstruction were not included in the tender documentation.

The reconstruction of the cultural house has been problematic from the beginning. Its original repairs were complicated not only by disputes with one of the former tenants of the space but also by issues related to the demands for covering costs associated with so-called additional works that the former contractor wanted. Ultimately, the building had to be put on hold in 2014, and the city sought a new supplier. The contract was eventually won by a consortium of companies Stamont - Civil Engineering and Vítkovice Revmont Engineering, which offered a price of approximately 180 million crowns, while the project estimated costs around 240 million.

"In an official letter, we have requested the contractor to negotiate an agreement to terminate cooperation. The main reasons were disagreements in interpreting certain parts of the contract and delays against the schedule. These are the two fundamental reasons for the request," noted Riger.

He believes that the city will reach an agreement with the consortium of construction companies on the end of cooperation. "We will settle for the work that was done to a high standard. We will agree on a list of works that is currently being prepared by the authorized supervision, with which there should be a kind of conservation of the state to prevent further degradation," said Riger.

The contract allowed the city to terminate it, but this is associated with penalties, which could lead to legal disputes. The city prefers to end the mutual cooperation so that it can search for a new construction supplier as soon as possible. "In the optimistic scenario, I believe that the project will be adjusted, and we could be in a position to compete for or select a new contractor by autumn," he believes.

The companies responsible for the reconstruction claim that immediately after comparing the project documentation submitted by the city with the condition of the building, they alerted the client that the current project documentation was not prepared adequately to the condition. "Many works necessary for completing the reconstruction of the Cultural House Poklad were not considered in the tender documentation, for example, addressing serious structural defects of the building. The contractors offered the city conditions for executing these works, which are not part of the subject of work and cannot be defined as additional works; however, these were not accepted by the city," said Eva Kijonková for the companies. She added that the contractors, like the city, believe that it is best for both parties to terminate cooperation by agreement. "Both parties will still negotiate the terms," said Kijonková. The modernization of the Cultural House Poklad has so far cost about 40 million crowns.