The renovation of the historic Kind's villa in Ústí is beginning and will be part of the European library

Ústí nad Labem - Construction work is starting in Ústí nad Labem on the renovation of the historic Kind Villa. The building is managed by the Ústí Region Library, which wants to establish a multicultural center, classrooms for virtual reality, use it for language teaching, retraining courses, and will also relocate the digitization center for the Ústí Region here. The reconstruction follows the completed work of the first phase of the European Library project. The costs for the work are approximately 80 million crowns. CTK was informed by the library director, Jana Linhartová.

The historically valuable building on Na Schodech Street is connected by a basement to the new extension of the Ústí Region Library's repository, which opened to the public in February 2022. "The Ústí Region has already selected a winning contractor, and in December, the construction was handed over, which should be completed by the end of the year, but we would be happy if, during 2025, both buildings, the repository and the villa, are connected, and it will become the European Library of the 21st century," said Linhartová.

The modifications include a complete replacement of internal installations, the façade, windows, and roofing, including the static adjustment of the roof structure, the installation of an elevator in the stairwell, drainage, and insulation of the building. It also includes all restoration modifications of surfaces, the replacement of floor coverings, and the renovation of interior doors.

The three-story villa was commissioned at the end of the 19th century by the successful Ústí entrepreneur and chemist Richard Kind from the significant Vienna architect Hartwig Fischel. After 1945, a communication training school was housed in the villa, after which the library acquired it for its repositories. "The building is not a monument, but during the reconstruction, it will be treated as if it were," the director said.

The Ústí Region is now looking for a suitable grant title that would help finance the project. The library will also seek a grant for furniture and digitization. A European grant was successfully obtained for the extension of the neighboring building for the new repository, which also included a parking lot on the roof. The costs were over 150 million crowns.

There will be an archive in the basement, a space for digitization, and a safe for rare prints, the entire ground floor will be connected to the repository, the American library will be relocated here, and the first above-ground floor will serve as an educational center. "We believe that in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, specifically with the employment office, we will be able to conduct retraining and educational courses. We believe that libraries will become the universities of the second age," said Linhartová. The library currently offers spaces for organizing cultural and community events as well as for educational courses, and in the future, it would like to have staff who would lead the courses.