Jičín will convert the former headquarters of the Communist Party into a social services center

Jičín - The Jičín city hall intends to convert the former seat of the district committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and later the General Health Insurance Company into a house of social and counseling services. The city estimates the costs of reconstructing the administrative building located at the bus station at 25 million crowns. The town hall has already started preparing a renovation project and applications for funding for insulation, window replacement, and internal redevelopment. This was stated by Deputy Mayor Petr Hamáček (Association for Jičín).

The city wants to consolidate institutions that are currently located in different places throughout the city and often operate in inadequate conditions and spaces into the renovated building. Moving is expected for the Pedagogical-Psychological Counseling, the Mental Health Care organization, TyfloCenter, the Citizens' Counseling Center, and the Jičín Regional Charity. The building will also provide space for the Special Educational Center.

"Many of these organizations already cooperate, and their clients are often the same. They will all find everything in one place; this is a conceptual solution," said Hamáček. Due to its location at the bus station, services will be significantly more accessible for commuters. If everything goes smoothly, the building could serve its new purpose in 2019. Current tenants of the building will be given sufficient time to relocate to other premises, according to the town hall.

The building of the Communist Party committee was acquired by the General Health Insurance Company after 1989, which sold it to the city of Jičín in 2007 for 15.5 million crowns. The planned reconstruction will concern the main four-story building, which has not yet received any significant funding for repairs. The second single-story part of the building will remain for use by Česká spořitelna, which has already repaired it at its own expense.