Přerov has abandoned plans for the construction of the town hall complex in the square

Přerov - The leadership of the Přerov city hall has definitively abandoned plans to build a city hall complex in the central TGM square. The zoning decision for the construction of the new Přerov city hall, which was supposed to be located in the western part of Masaryk Square according to the plans, will thus be revoked. The reason is mainly the excessively high costs, the city hall spokesperson Lenka Chalupová informed ČTK today. The city hall currently resides in one of the smaller row houses on the square, while additional buildings are located at Bratrská, Smetanova, Blahoslavova, and Horní náměstí.

The construction of a large city hall complex in Masaryk Square has been planned for 12 years, and the issue has been raised through several electoral terms. The current leadership has concluded that the city does not have the funds for the construction and has other priorities. "Just for studies, surveys, condition assessments, and processing of documentation for zoning proceedings, the city paid over 3.5 million crowns 12 years ago. The actual construction of the city hall would then, according to these plans, cost half of the annual budget of Přerov, which is unrealistic," stated Přerov Mayor Petr Měřínský (ANO).

The question of constructing a representative city hall building was first raised in 1997. An urban planning-architectural competition was announced, which even had its winner. However, the same year, the city was affected by a flood that interrupted the plans, and the city was recovering from its aftermath. The topic, according to city hall spokesperson Lenka Chalupová, reopened in 2003 when an engineering-geological survey was conducted, and documentation was prepared for the old buildings that were to be removed for new construction. The preparation culminated in the processing of documentation for zoning proceedings.

Due to the planned regeneration of the western side of TGM Square, in 2007, the building authority issued a zoning decision permitting this construction in the square. The documentation then considered two variants of the construction with estimated costs of 170 or 365 million crowns; this variant included, in addition to space for officials, also a library and underground garages. However, the appearance of the city hall sparked mixed reactions.

Current representatives of the coalition, composed of ANO, ODS, KDU-ČSL, and TOP 09, are not currently considering the construction, and according to the mayor, there is no interest from the city to block the western part of the square. The development department will therefore remove all documentation associated with this plan from its records, added Chalupová.