Velké Meziříčí will have an architectural study for the renewal of the square by June

Velké Meziříčí – The Town Hall in Velké Meziříčí in the Žďár region is expected to have an architectural study for the restoration of the square by this June. After that, it will select a contractor for the subsequent documentation. If everything proceeds as anticipated, construction work is likely to begin not next year, but rather at the start of 2024. Mayor Alexandros Kaminaras said this to reporters today. Preparations for the reconstruction of the center were stalled for about six years due to disputes in the city council.

The councilors agreed last September that the city should establish cooperation with architect David Mikulášek and sign a contract with him for the completion of the architectural study. The study will cost 960,000 crowns. Once the councilors take over the study, the city will select a contractor for the subsequent documentation for the zoning decision and building permit. "Which, in my qualified estimate, will require about a year, maybe a year and a half of work," said the mayor. He added that the square is in poor condition and needs repair. The reconstruction will be concurrently prepared by the technical network operators.

The city council has so far released two million crowns from last year’s surplus for the project documentation for the restoration of the square and adjacent streets. According to the mayor, the costs of the projects will be higher.

The town hall is now following up on the proposal from the architectural competition from 2016, which, however, according to a later statement by the Office for the Protection of Competition, was not legally initiated due to errors. "But the results are here. So we don’t have to finance something again that has already been financed," said Kaminaras. He noted that the selected proposal is still being adjusted, also due to the requirements of traffic engineers, network operators, and affected authorities.

Sixteen proposals were submitted to the competition years ago. However, a larger portion of the councilors rejected proceeding with the winning Mikulášek's proposal. The then mayor Radovan Necid (The Right Meziříčí) resigned due to disputes. In a local referendum in 2017, a larger portion of the voters requested negotiations with the winner of the competition, but the results were not binding for the councilors. They chose the proposal from MCA atelier, which finished second in the competition. However, the city did not sign a contract with them either.