Werich's villa in Prague will be transferred to the Mládek Foundation

Prague - The so-called Werich Villa on Kampa in Prague 1 will be leased to the Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation. The representatives of the first city district today changed their original disapproval from the end of January and approved the preliminary lease agreement. The foundation wants to establish a cultural venue in the building dedicated to the legacy of Jiří Voskovec, Jan Werich, and poet Vladimír Holan.
    "We have finished playing the evergreen," said Mayor Petr Hejma (ODS) to ČTK. Now a preliminary agreement must be signed, and the proper contract will be granted to the foundation only after the renovation of the building is completed. The foundation is to receive the villa for 40 years and pay a one-time rent of 23.8 million crowns and then pay one crown daily. Initially, it should deposit 2.5 million crowns and pay the remainder after the reconstruction.
    In January, nine representatives voted in favor of the foundation, two were against, and 12 abstained. The remaining six representatives did not vote at all. Today, the preliminary lease agreement was approved with 24 votes, five representatives voted against, two abstained, and one did not vote at all.
    After the January verdict, Hejma negotiated with other political clubs in the council about the next steps. Another option was for the town hall to complete the repair of the house. Then it could lease it to the foundation, someone else, or operate the villa itself. The representatives ultimately received the original proposal to lease the house to the foundation today.
    The so-called Werich Villa was damaged during the flood in 2002. The town hall has already spent 18.5 million crowns on repairs. It is estimated that the completion of the reconstruction will cost another 20 million crowns.
    The town hall has tried to lease the villa in three selection procedures. In the first, the company Colly won, which elicited criticism. The town hall ultimately had to cancel the competition because it was not in accordance with the valid wording of the procurement law. The second selection procedure was supposed to take place last June, but after a week, the council canceled it.
    Only Mládková applied for the last competition. However, she ultimately did not submit a bid for the second round. She wanted to obtain the villa through a so-called intention, where the town hall offers the premises only by posting on the official bulletin board to a specific interested party. However, anyone else can also apply.