The leadership of Rožnov p. R. will negotiate a possible extension of the grant for the cultural center

Rožnov pod Radhoštěm - The leadership of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm in the Vsetín region will negotiate at the Ministry of the Environment about a possible extension of the deadline for drawing a subsidy of 120 million crowns for the construction of a cultural center. Mayor Jan Kučera (Independent Rožnov Residents) said this at today's city council meeting. The construction of the center began this spring and was supposed to be completed by the end of next year; completing it by the end of 2023 is a condition for the subsidy. However, the Zlín construction company Navláčil withdrew from the contract for the main construction of the center on Friday.

The construction company suspended work in mid-June, and the foundation slab is completed. The company disagreed with the city leadership regarding the change of the subcontractor for the wooden structure. It also pointed out deficiencies in the project documentation and demanded an increase in the price for the main construction.

According to Kučera, the new city leadership has been striving to continue the construction. "All our negotiations were aimed at starting the continuation of the construction of the cultural center as soon as possible," the mayor stated. A meeting with architects, external experts, representatives of the Navláčil company, and municipal office staff was supposed to take place on Monday. "The effort was to address all the deficiencies and agree on the next steps. Unfortunately, Navláčil delivered its withdrawal from the contract," Kučera said.

The city commissioned a legal analysis and wants to negotiate in Prague at the Ministry this week about a possible extension of the subsidy deadline. The city could then complete the construction with a new contractor, but this would mean a new tender process. The city also needs to resolve the situation with other contracting companies.

Councilor and former mayor of Rožnov Radim Holiš (ANO), who is the governor of the Zlín Region, reminded today that the region provided a subsidy of 15 million crowns for the cultural center. He appreciated that the new city leadership did not give in to the construction company. "The company wants more money, an extension of the deadline, and a change of subcontractor; that was its intention all along. They were playing for time over some errors in the project," Holiš stated. He mentioned that the company signed the contract and is now claiming that there are errors in the project. "The company should find out the damage it has caused to the city; it can be specified in the tens of millions of crowns, what kind of damage the company would cause the city in case of non-completion by the deadline and after receiving the subsidy," Holiš added.

In its statement, Navláčil stated that it had pointed out defects, deficiencies, or incompleteness of the project documentation from the beginning of the construction. The company negotiated with the city to resolve the defects and deficiencies, but according to the company, only less significant defects were removed, and the company suspended all work on September 19. Some of the unresolved defects are, according to them, substantial. "In particular, they prevent the completion of the production documentation of the wooden structure, for example, defects or deficiencies concerning the statics, acoustics, and fire safety solutions of the entire building. Due to the existence of these fundamental defects and deficiencies in the project documentation, which could not be removed by the client for more than six months, and thus the impossibility to continue the construction, as well as due to the non-approval of the change of the subcontractor for the wooden structure, we had no other choice but to withdraw from the contract on November 4, 2022," the company stated.

The cultural center was to be the largest investment project of the city in recent years. The construction was estimated to cost over 300 million crowns, and the city also took out loans for this purpose.