Liberec is negotiating the purchase of a dilapidated chateau in Machnín

Liberec - Liberec has started negotiating again for the purchase of the dilapidated chateau in the Machnín district, which was home to a renowned children's eye treatment center. What was once a grand residence of industrialist Kleinert is now a ruin on the verge of collapse. It has been unused for over 20 years. The monument-protected building previously belonged to the city. Whether the city hall will buy it back will, according to Deputy Mayor Jiří Šolc (SLK), depend on the price. "In the suburban area, this is a valuable territory," the deputy told reporters.

The company Sanatorium Machnín, which owns the complex, is in liquidation. The city is negotiating the purchase directly with the company's liquidator. "I cannot yet say whether we will buy the chateau," the deputy said. He did not specify what price they were negotiating. "The liquidator hinted at some price. We want it to be less," Šolc stated. Ten years ago, the chateau appeared on the offer of a real estate agency with a price of 19 million crowns, but today, according to the city leadership, it has a negative value. "The condition of the building is very unflattering. The only thing that has any real value is the small house at the entrance gate, which is inhabited by tenants," added the deputy.

The chateau, built on the outskirts of the city around 1900, was declared an eye sanatorium after nationalization during the previous regime, where children with eye defects from all over the country came for treatment. In 1999, the city sold the building along with two adjacent buildings for 1.4 million crowns to a company owned by several doctors from Liberec. However, the city remained the owner of the land in the complex. "The company was supposed to provide some social service, which would lower the purchase price," Šolc reminded. The doctors planned to build a modern sanatorium, but that did not happen.

The city began its effort to reclaim the chateau for the first time about ten years ago due to a violation of transfer conditions. However, negotiations were thwarted by the death of one of the shareholders of Sanatorium Machnín. "The inheritance has not been settled to this day," Šolc noted.

Another complication according to him is that the company Sanatorium Machnín is in liquidation. Judicially demanding the return of the chateau, according to Šolc, would not yield success. "In such a case, it makes no sense to sue the company," he said.