The referendum on the Vřídelní Colonnade will take place, the regional court has decided

Karlovy Vary - People will vote in a referendum on the restoration of the Vřídelní Colonnade in its 19th-century form in Karlovy Vary. This was decided by the Regional Court in Plzeň. The organizers of the referendum informed ČTK about this today. The municipal council rejected the proposal for the referendum due to the ambiguous wording of the question. The organizers thus turned to the court.

"The preparatory committee of the referendum is indeed satisfied with the outcome, because the city leadership has been doing all possible and impossible obstructions against the initiative for the restoration of the colonnade designed by architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer over the last three years," said the referendum organizers.

The city leadership was not against the referendum itself, but was concerned about the implications of the wording of the question. In addition to the proposal for the city to restore the colonnade according to the designs of the famous architects, it also included a second part about ending the repairs of the current colonnade's emergency state. According to experts, this could harm the Vřídlo's capture, on which a large part of spa treatment in Karlovy Vary is based.

"We are truly upset about how the city is pushing for the most expensive solution regarding the dilapidated Vřídelní Colonnade. The reconstruction, which according to our information will cost 80 to 120 million crowns instead of the 40 million proclaimed by the city, will only extend the lifespan by 15 years, and then the city plans to build a new colonnade for about 250 million crowns. And that is the peak of inefficiency when for 250 million, and currently with significant contributions from EU funds, a new colonnade can be built," say the referendum organizers.

The mayor of the city, Petr Kulhánek (KOA), has previously favored announcing an open architectural competition for the solution of the entire area around the Vřídelní Colonnade. One of the proposals could be a return to its form from the end of the 19th century. He also discussed with the preparatory committee of the referendum the possibility of announcing it without the second part of the question, that is, only about the restoration of the historical colonnade without halting the emergency repairs of the current colonnade from the 1970s.

The referendum on the Vřídelní Colonnade will be the first in Karlovy Vary. It will take place simultaneously with the first round of presidential elections on January 12 and 13, 2018.