Negotiations for the purchase of Ještěd have once again come to a standstill

The Ještěd mountain hotel is a Czech building of the century. The 94-meter-high hyperboloid uniquely combines the functions of a transmitter, hotel, and restaurant. The foundation stone of the building was ceremoniously laid 44 years ago - on July 30, 1966. Its author, Karel Hubáček, received the Perret Prize awarded by the International Union of Architects for the project in 1969. Experts and laypeople alike are still captivated by the way the building complements the silhouette of the 1012-meter-high mountain. The region is striving for the building to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but the tower urgently needs a complete reconstruction.
Ještěd is owned by Czech Radiocommunications, which acquired it in 2000 for 85 million crowns. In the past, they invested over 20 million crowns into the property, and last year, the replacement of a twenty-meter antenna, which ensures the transmission of a digital signal in northeastern Bohemia, cost several tens of millions. The building has been a national cultural monument since 2006. The previous regional representation began negotiations for the purchase of Ještěd more than two years ago. "The purchase price they negotiated is not very acceptable now," claims Eichler.
According to former deputy for economics Karel Dolejší, the then leadership agreed with ČRa on a price of around 80 million crowns, which corresponded to the residual value of the property. "100 million was prepared in the budget for the new representation to purchase Ještěd, because we anticipated that some repairs would begin immediately after the purchase, and then European subsidies would be requested," Dolejší told ČTK today.
The money that was prepared in the budget for the purchase of Ještěd has already been used by the new leadership of the region last year to pre-finance the reconstruction of regional roads, which received subsidies from the Regional Operational Program. "They promised to return the money to the region's account, but that hasn't happened yet," said former deputy governor, now opposition councilor Radim Zika (ODS) to ČTK. He is concerned about the future of the unique building, which urgently needs reconstruction. Without it, it will not be possible to keep the hotel and restaurant running, and it may end up serving only as a transmitter.
The costs for reconstructing the monument are estimated at 350 million crowns, and the Liberec region would like to obtain them from European funds. Last year, they applied to the Ministry of Culture for a subsidy from the Integrated Operational Program. However, the application was rejected. "It was not well prepared; we had too little time for it," admitted Deputy of the Liberec Region for Culture Lidie Vajnerová (SOS) to ČTK today.
Currently, according to her, preparations are underway for a new application that the region intends to submit in the next call, which ends on September 21. "Only when it is clear that we will receive the money for the repairs, are my colleagues in the regional council willing to look for funds for the purchase or rental of Ještěd," Vajnerová added.