Praha 7 must again discuss the purchase of a new city hall headquarters

Prague - Prague 7 will be the first Prague district where the city council will meet in the new year. Due to formal deficiencies, it must re-discuss the purchase of a new town hall for more than 90 million crowns. The councilors will meet on Monday. Mayor Jan Čižinský (KDU-ČSL) said this to ČTK today. The opposition criticizes the councilors' approach, claiming it fosters distrust. The selection of the site has been fraught with problems for years.

"The city hall's demand is entirely formalistic. However, it is better to meet once more than to argue with the city hall and waste time. We are preparing a public architectural competition and do not want to prolong the process,” the mayor stated.

The ODS criticizes the coalition's steps. “Due to the incorrectly worded resolution of the council, the new town hall project is already behind schedule even before Prague 7 has become the owner of the new building. This is a direct result of a hasty and questionable selection of the new town hall,” claims councilor Petr Kantor. The mayor, however, rejects the criticisms. “The ODS is having a hard time accepting that we are not buying the town hall for 1.6 billion, but a reasonable building for 91 million, from which a nice and functional town hall will be created through renovation. The ODS selected a town hall for four years, spent 14 million crowns just on consultancy, and bought nothing,” he stated.

Due to the site selection, the councilors announced a competition, in which three interested parties applied. In the end, the councilors selected an administrative building on U Průhonu 38 in November, whose renovation, according to Čižinský, will cost about 100 million crowns. They were guided by the constraints set by the local referendum, among other things regarding the price of the town hall.

According to the mayor's estimate, officials could move from the current headquarters on Captain Jaroš Quay in approximately two years. However, the Ministry of Finance, which owns the building, is pushing for the relocation. This is evident from a letter sent to the city district. Originally, the town hall had arranged to extend the lease until 2019.

The relocation has been a concern for politicians for several years. The selection of a new site has been accompanied by a number of twists and turns. The former opposition accused the councilors from ODS and ČSSD of preparing an overpriced investment. Initially, the town hall was supposed to cost over a billion. Civic associations collected thousands of signatures in support of a local referendum. The then-coalition rejected it. However, the court ordered it to hold a referendum. In the end, people voted to regulate the price at which the city district is to build the discussed building.