Plzeň will have an analysis by February on what to do next with the cultural house Peklo

Plzeň - The leadership of the city of Plzeň will have a variant analysis by the end of January regarding the future of the heritage-protected cultural house Peklo, which had to be closed this year due to a state of emergency. Together with the Měšťanská beseda, it is the largest municipal hall for organizing cultural events. The analysis of several reconstruction and utilization options will be presented to the councilors in an informational report on February 7. At today's council meeting, which approved the budget for 2019, councilor David Šlouf (ODS) stated this. The repair costs will amount to hundreds of millions of crowns.

"There is no budget item for the project," stated opposition councilor Petr Náhlík (KDU-ČSL) today. According to him, money should at least be considered in the surplus of this year's operations, which will traditionally be allocated in the spring of next year.

According to Mayor Martin Baxa (ODS), the city council must first find agreement on how to reconstruct Peklo. "Two options have already been on the table before, one for more than 200 million and the other, the general one, for approximately 400 million crowns," he told the councilors today.

"By February 7, we will prepare a comprehensive report that will analyze the condition of Peklo before and after the investment, maximum and minimum costs, a schedule of work, plus the method of future management of the facility," Šlouf said. After that, the councilors should express what they would like there. Until the assignment is clear, according to him, work on the project cannot proceed, nor can money be allocated.

The decision to close the cultural house was made by a structural engineer in August after examining the trusses and masonry above the main hall, which were massively attacked by wood-destroying fungi. The previous city management allocated 20 million CZK for the most urgent repairs this year. The comprehensive restoration was left to the new council.

Autumn concerts, theater productions, and prom parties had to be moved to DEPA2015, which is managed by the municipal company Plzeň 2015, just like Peklo, and to other halls in the city, such as the Měšťanská beseda and Parkhotel.

The city hall received the cultural house from the state for free 15 years ago, but has not invested much into its repairs so far.