Pardubice may buy the Automatic Mills, the owner has reduced the price

Pardubice - The City of Pardubice should hopefully make a final decision in September on whether to purchase the listed Automatic Mills. The owner of the monument designed by architect Josef Gočár has reduced the price from 40 to 25 million crowns. The mayor's deputy František Brendl (Pardubáci) told reporters today. Negotiations with the Austrian company GoodMills have been ongoing for about a year and a half.
    "We will present a very comprehensive report to the September council meeting, which will outline what the mills could be purchased for, what we want to do with them, what the approximate operating costs would be, and where we can draw (subsidies)," said Brendl.
    The mills could become a so-called "Kulturfabrik," a cultural-educational center where theaters, museums, school workshops, or musical associations could operate. The city has a chance to obtain European subsidies for the restoration of the monument. "It would be a shame if the city lost these properties. Only the city can draw European subsidies; it is not a private entity," said mayor Štěpánka Fraňková (Association for Pardubice).
    The buildings designed by Josef Gočár have the status of a national monument. City project manager Miroslav Janovský, however, adds that subsidies can also be drawn for the restoration of buildings by architect Karel Řepa.
    "The portion of the mills designed by Řepa is not protected as a monument, but we have included it in the concept. We can also draw subsidies for the immediate surroundings for national cultural monuments," Janovský specified.
    The original asking price of 40 million crowns was based on the accounting value of the property. The price difference will have to be written off by the owner of the mills. The city had its own appraisal done, which estimated the market value of the properties at around 20 million crowns, Brendl said.
    "GoodMills is ending its activities in the Czech Republic and wants the city to make a decision by the end of September," said Brendl.
    The Automatic Mills were built between 1910 and 1925 and are inspired by Anglo-Saxon architecture, characterized by a patterned wall of light and dark bricks. The GoodMills company ceased production in the mills last spring. The entire area is approximately 11,000 m². "We are also counting on private sector participation in the restoration of the remaining buildings," said Brendl.