Lukáš Smetana purchased the historic Automatické mlýny industrial area in Pardubice, about a 100 km east of Prague. The Czech architect paid the Austrian company Goodmills CZK 25m for the complex. Smetana plans to refurbish the complex, built by famous architect Josef Gočár, into a cultural center with space for galleries, theater performances and concerts. The complex, which was declared a cultural monument in 2014, will also include space for startups, tech workshops and laboratories for local schools. Smetana plans to complete the refurbishment, inspired by the Spinnerei center in the German city of Leipzig, by 2020. Approximately 85 percent of the investment could be covered by EU funds.
