At the Brno council, people asked the mayors and with towels for the rental of a sauna

Brno - About a dozen people in bathrobes and with towels on their heads or shoulders came today to the Brno City Council meeting to request the rental of a sauna in the grounds of the reconstructed Arnold Villa. Representative of the Community Sauna Drobného, Šárka Svobodová, stated that the association wants to lease the sauna for five years and invest 100,000 crowns annually. The annual rent would be the same amount, which would thus be offset by the investments. The city will look for a sauna operator through a public tender. According to Mayor Markéta Vaňková (ODS), it is now crucial to resolve the state of the building.

The city originally considered demolishing the sauna, but people opposed this. Svobodová mentioned that the sauna is the oldest in the Brno area, and a large community of 300 people has formed around it. The city decided to preserve the sauna, and the association expressed interest in operating it. Another interested party has also shown interest. "We therefore ask the politicians for support, to consider a non-commercial entity instead of a commercial one in the upcoming procedure," said Svobodová. She added that a non-commercial association cannot compete with a commercial entity, but the tender conditions can prioritize a non-commercial entity.

According to Svobodová, there is also a threat of postponement of the tender due to the reconstruction of the villa’s sewer system, which is also related to the sauna's sewer. Svobodová indicated that people expect the closure to last several months due to the sewer reconstruction. "However, if it gets postponed and we don't know when, it would create great uncertainty, and people might not return after a year. The sauna is visited by children, parents, and grandparents, many of whom are elderly. They have strong ties, and everything contributes to their health," said Svobodová.

The association had previously arranged a five-year lease of the sauna with the former city council leadership. The rent would be 100,000 crowns annually, but the association would invest 100,000 crowns each year, thus offsetting the rent. The association plans to insulate the building, update the facade, replace the stoves, and make other modifications.

Mayor Vaňková told reporters today that it is currently crucial to resolve the state of the building. "If we conclude that the sauna could be in such technical condition that it could be used, I would prefer this community to remain there. However, it’s unclear whether we will be able to put the sauna into operation and lease it to anyone," Vaňková remarked concerning the poor state of the sewer. According to her, it is also complicated to meet the association's wishes. "If there are multiple interested parties, we must proceed in accordance with the Municipalities Act. In some cases, we can set criteria other than the highest offered price, but we must proceed very cautiously to avoid violating the law," emphasized Vaňková.

The reconstruction of the Arnold Villa, costing approximately 150 million crowns, began last December. It will host a Center for Dialogue, intended for both the general public and professionals interested in architecture and the history of the 19th to 21st centuries. The building is located in close proximity to the accessible Tugendhat and Löw-Beer villas, but it is older. It was built for the builder Josef Arnold in the 1860s. The last private owners of the villa perished during World War II. From the 1950s until 2013, the villa served as a kindergarten and has been empty since then.