Prague will terminate the lease agreement for Štvanice, the councilors have decided

Prague - Prague will terminate the lease contract for Štvanice Island with the company Meridianspa. The city's council unanimously decided on this today. Councilor Aleksandra Udženija (ODS) announced it at a press conference. The city management failed to agree with the company's representatives on the conditions under which Meridianspa would withdraw from the contract. Thus, the city may face a lawsuit.
    The company wanted to build sports facilities and a wellness center on the island, but has not yet started repair work. Prague now wants to repair Štvanice itself. "We want Štvanice to serve the public as soon as possible; we must act urgently in this matter," Udženija remarked. She is now planning to prepare a project that would propose a possible modification of the island. The area with tennis courts would be expanded to include additional sports facilities, and a skating rink should be placed where the demolished winter stadium stood.
    The decision is criticized by the association Acta non verba. They fear that the company will sue Prague in court and possibly demand compensation in the tens or even hundreds of millions of crowns due to the long-term lease contract. Udženija did not want to comment on the potential penalty. "Whether the company will sue, I wouldn't preempt," she told reporters. She added that the court is considered "the most transparent way" to resolve the dispute and determine any penalties.
    The city of Prague signed the contract with Meridianspa more than ten years ago for a period of 88 years. The city has already handed over part of the land to the company, while other parcels, where the heritage-protected stadium stood, are still managed by the city council. The stadium, which fell into a dilapidated state due to poor maintenance, was demolished in May.
    Udženija has been tasked with negotiating the conditions under which the company would be willing to withdraw from the contract by the end of October. According to the councilor, the negotiations appeared promising, as the company conditionally agreed at the beginning of September to cancel the contract for the revitalization of the island. Today, Udženija stated that the negotiations "were not easy." She noted that the company representatives raised demands which they later withdrew at subsequent meetings.
    Today's decision by the council does not sit well with the head of Acta non verba, Vojtěch Razim, who has been closely monitoring the developments around Štvanice. "We paid for the demolition; now we will pay on the order of tens or rather hundreds of millions of crowns in penalties," he told ČTK. He believes that the case was heading toward such a resolution from the beginning. He noted that the city council refused to provide the association with the lease contract. He suspects that the reason is that it contains provisions about the penalty amounts in case of withdrawal from the contract. He called for Udženija's resignation.
    Several generations of hockey players and figure skaters grew up in the stadium, including the famous figure skater Ája Vrzáňová who trained here. In total, Štvanice was the venue for four World Championships in hockey, in the years 1933, 1938, 1947, and 1959.