The owners of the synagogue offered its sale to Prostějov, but the councilors find the price unacceptable

Prostějov - The owners of the former synagogue in the center of Prostějov, which has been deteriorating without use for years and is in a state of emergency, offered to sell it to the city for 6.8 million. However, the council considers this price excessive and recommended the deputies reject the offer. The mayor's deputy Milada Sokolová (ODS) told ČTK this. The National Heritage Institute listed the synagogue as a monument at risk in 2013. The synagogue's owner, Lenka Skácelová, told ČTK today that the offered price for the property is based on an estimate and she is willing to negotiate further with the city regarding the sale conditions.

"In her sales offer, the owner states that due to high financial costs, she is unable to ensure the reconstruction of the building. Therefore, she has offered the synagogue to the city. The city of Prostějov presented an offer to the owner to purchase the synagogue for 400,000 crowns, which is the same price she paid to acquire the building from the Orthodox Church in 2017. This price seems unacceptable to the owner," Sokolová stated.

According to Skácelová, the council's information is misleading. "They do not take into account the investments for repairs we have made to the building. And we also informed the city that we are willing to negotiate a price acceptable to both parties," said Skácelová, who, along with her husband, offered the city an alternative real estate transaction. "We wonder if the city could offer us a property in exchange for the synagogue, where there would be an ordinary residential space and non-residential space for our personal belongings, similar to that in the synagogue. This would be our wish," they informed the city. If not, the couple plans to offer the synagogue for sale through a real estate agency.

The synagogue building is currently in a state of emergency and has been on the National Heritage Institute's list of endangered immovable monuments since 2013. According to Sokolová, experts have assessed the technical condition of the synagogue and estimated that it has compromised statics, and securing it would cost more than six million crowns. The council, therefore, does not recommend purchasing this immovable cultural monument for the offered price of 6.8 million crowns.

The synagogue was built in the 1990s of the 18th century and later modified in the Empire style. During World War II, it was closed and after the war, it became the property of the Orthodox Church. The synagogue then no longer served its original purpose. After 1989, it had several owners, none of whom undertook its repair.