The Winternitz Mills will be abandoned by the last employees from Gočár

photo: Zdeněk Pražák

Pardubice - The Winternitz automatic mills in Pardubice will see their last employees leave at the end of March. One of the city's less prominent landmarks, designed by architect Josef Gočár, is up for sale. Production of flour stopped last May, and by the end of this month, the machines for packaging semolina and baking mixtures will also cease operations. Pavel Skřivan, the executive director of GoogMills Česko, stated this to ČTK.
     "I believe the only potential buyer is the city. It is a question of time when it will start to take an interest, to prevent a situation where someone demolishes the newer buildings and puts up a Tesco," said Skřivan.
     The company wants to first discuss with the city the possibilities of how the listed heritage site could be utilized, and only then will they talk about the price, which is in the tens of millions of crowns. In cooperation with architects, a study is being prepared on how the buildings can be used.
     "I dare say that public administration should have objects that are significant. The automatic mills are a significant landmark," said František Brendl, deputy mayor, to ČTK. However, he added that all decisions must be made by the city council.
     The automatic turbine mills with the silo were designed by architect Josef Gočár for the Winternitz brothers. The block of the left wing with the adjacent silo was built between 1909 and 1911. The building is based on the Anglo-Saxon tradition and is characterized by brickwork made of dark and light bricks.
     During the First Republic, a bridge-like structure, a brick arch, connected the silo and the left wing, and some parts were adorned with an attic that resembles a castle battlement. In the 1960s, a four-story extension was added to the left wing, which aims to respect the original building. There are other structures within the complex that no longer fit into the architectural concept.
     "The mills are an icon of the city and are in good condition; they do not show any static or other fundamental faults. This is not a complex that immediately requires an injection of 100 million crowns. A single large investment could damage it more," said architect Ondřej Teplý, who is preparing a feasibility study, to ČTK.
     The company GoodMills Česko, which is part of an Austrian group, purchased the mills in 2002. They decided to cease production due to strong competition and necessary investments. Repairs to the buildings and new machines would cost a quarter of a billion crowns. Of the 33 employees, only seven will remain with the company by the end of March.
     "The capacity for wheat was 60 percent, which is extremely low, while for rye it was only 20 percent. Production of rye flour has been declining for a long time," said Skřivan.
     The mill produced larger packages directly for baking companies. It produced about 5,000 tons of wheat flour and 1,000 tons of rye flour monthly, making it average compared to the production of other mills in the Czech Republic. The company manufactured 22 types of baking mixtures.