The Hostivař depositary of the National Library is to be completed by Metrostav

Prague - The National Library (NK) has awarded the construction contract for the completion of the repository in Hostivař, amounting to 300 million crowns, to the construction company Metrostav. The evaluation committee preferred it over four other candidates, who can still use a ten-day period to raise possible objections against the decision. This was reported today by the director of the NK, Tomáš Böhm.
     "The evaluation committee selected the winning bid from Metrostav, a.s., which was the best according to the evaluated criteria, namely the price of the contract and the time for completion. I am very pleased that the tender for selecting the contractor is now closed and that we can move on to the actual construction," stated Böhm.
      Five companies competed for the contract amounting to 284 million crowns in the final round of the tender. Besides Metrostav, there were also Unistav, Syner, Swietelsky construction, and PSG-International.
      According to Böhm, the tender result is conditional. "We will still have to wait ten days from the day the decision on the selection of the best offer is delivered to the participants, to see if any of the participants file an objection against the decision within this period," Böhm added.
      The completion of the new repository in Hostivař will have two phases. In the first phase, a storage facility for at least two and a half million volumes of books (mainly for the National Preservation Fund) will be built, including workplaces for processing collections, digitization, and other services. "In the second phase, the reconstruction of the existing repository will take place. The reconstruction will primarily involve changes to the layout to accommodate existing and new workspaces, which will be partially air-conditioned, and service areas in individual parts of the repository structure," informed ČTK economic and operational deputy Zdeněk Macoszek. Construction work on the Hostivař repository should then be completed in the summer of next year. The project is financed through grants from the state budget.
      The central repository was built fifteen years ago on the site of the former Exposition company in Hostivař. The building then became the largest structure designed for a library in the Czech Republic. An older industrial reinforced concrete hall was used for it, which was reconstructed, and an administrative section, study rooms, and air conditioning machine rooms were added.
      The tender for the completion of the repository was initiated by the previous director of the library, Pavel Hazuka. However, the current head of the institution canceled it, as he deemed it overpriced. Böhm reduced the original total costs for completion by more than 120 million crowns. The library then issued a new tender for the completion of the Hostivař repository in May this year.
      The current head of NK has faced criticism in connection with the contract. Five out of a total of 15 applicants were selected by the evaluation committee by lot. The Ministry for Regional Development intends to ban random selection of applicants for state contracts starting next year. Although the proposal still needs to be approved by legislators, the change has strong support from MPs across the political spectrum. Böhm defends his approach - the drawing was, according to him, the only quick and objective solution in this case.