The Prague City Hall will lend Prague 10 half a billion for the renovation of the town hall

Prague - The City Hall of the capital city will provide an interest-free loan of half a billion crowns to Prague 10 for the long-planned reconstruction of the local city hall. Today, this was decided by the councilors. According to the mayor of the tenth district, Renata Chmelová (Vlasta), the city hall is in an unsustainable technical condition, and given the estimated costs of 915 million crowns, the city hall must find sources of financing outside of its budget. In addition to the loan from the city, the city hall has negotiated a grant from the Ministry of the Environment amounting to approximately 200 million crowns.

According to Deputy Mayor Pavel Vyhnánek (Praha Sobě), the city hall will draw the loan in two parts in 2022 and 2023. From 2024, when the reconstruction is scheduled to be completed, it will repay the money over 25 years. A condition of the loan is also that the local district must invest 100 million crowns into the works itself. At the same time, the exact budget for the reconstruction, which should be known by the end of the year, must fit within the amount of 915 million crowns with a fifteen-percent reserve.

Councilors began discussing the item last week, when the meeting was interrupted and resumed today. Vyhnánek said last Thursday that this is an unprecedented aid for the district. So far, the city has lent the most in the previous electoral term to Prague 12 for the construction of a new town hall, which was about half the amount. "I cannot say that I am excited about this loan, but I do not see any other solution," he said.

Opposition councilor from Prague 10, Tomáš Pek (TOP 09), said during the meeting today that the local council did not discuss the loan and proposed postponing the item. This was supported by the TOP 09 club. Its chairman, Jiří Pospíšil (TOP 09), stated that in light of the economic situation caused by the pandemic, he does not find it appropriate to invest hundreds of millions now into "creating luxury offices for officials". "I see the city hall as an institution that primarily serves the citizens, not the politicians," Vyhnánek responded to this.

In response to the criticism, Chmelová stated that it was Pek who, as deputy mayor, started the preparation for the reconstruction and that the current leadership of the city hall is merely continuing his project. According to representatives of the leadership of Prague 10, there has been almost no investment in the city hall buildings for 30 years, and now they are in a deplorable technical condition. In addition to the reconstruction of the office, the local district also plans adjustments to its surroundings, and wants to announce an architectural-urban planning competition for them in the spring.

The building named Vlasta on Vršovická Street was built in the 1970s. Previous administrations of Prague 10 considered various options for addressing the situation with the inadequate building. Initially, there was a plan to build a new building at an estimated cost of 775 million crowns, but the opposition and civic associations, in which Chmelová was still involved as an activist at the time, condemned the project as overpriced, and it was ultimately abandoned. After that, relocating the city hall to an unused school in Strašnice was also considered. In the end, the local district decided on the reconstruction of the current building in the previous electoral term.