Plzeň will pay 13 million for the project of a new archive headquarters

Plzeň - Plzeň allocated 13 million crowns for project documentation for a new municipal archive building. The archive is currently located in historically unsuitable conditions in a historic building in the city center and requires an exemption from the Ministry of the Interior for its operation. According to the city hall's plans, the archive should eventually move to the modified and expanded Bratislava building within the former Světovar brewery complex. The costs for reconstruction, the extension of the building, and adaptation for the needs of the archive are roughly estimated at 134 million crowns, said Martin Baxa (ODS), the mayor's first deputy, to ČTK.

The city archive of Plzeň is one of the oldest and, according to Baxa, one of the most significant archives in the Czech Republic by the content of its collections. "From a technical standpoint, the current premises do not meet even the basic parameters that are now a standard for archive buildings; in addition, we do not have enough available capacity in the depositories," stated archive head Adam Skála. The city archive manages 1,369 archival collections, which amounts to over four kilometers of archives, and has a specialized library with 86,000 volumes. Due to lack of space, some documents must be stored outside the main building.

"Rare documents are not immediately threatened, but the conditions are inadequate, and the archive management of the ministry has long warned us that the unfavorable situation must change," Baxa said. According to him, obtaining funds for the project is a key argument that the city is addressing the issue. Alongside the archive, the modified building should also house a central file office of the magistrate and the file office of the building and administrative department. All of this currently represents 9,160 linear meters of archives and documents.

Some time ago, the city wanted to build the archive in the Světovar complex, as it was part of the city's application for the title of European Capital of Culture 2015. However, due to harmful tar and corkalite in the walls and floors, the revitalization of Světovar and the planned establishment of Cultural Factory 4x4 for cultural city events were abandoned.

Plzeň has a study that verified the use of hall B9 Bratislava for the needs of the archive. Thanks to the proposed extension, the capacity of the storage space will be increased, creating a reserve for another approximately 20 years. The archive currently has 4,150 linear meters of archives and grows on average by 270 meters of archives annually. The proposed reserve represents an additional 5,840 linear meters.