The Plzeň Region has received an architectural study for the adaptation and reconstruction of the dilapidated city spa in Plzeň. It bought the listed building from 1931 last October for CZK 120 million. In the coming weeks, he will hold an exhibition to present the study with visualizations prepared by the team of Eva Heyworth’s Prague studio. Next year, a tender for a contractor for the reconstruction could be announced, announced Rudolf Špoták (Pirates). Its cost is estimated at CZK 1.5 to 2 billion.
“We will see if we will be able to sign a contract with the contractor by the end of next year. The earliest date we would start construction would be spring 2025,” he said. If the selection of the contractor is successful on the first try without appealing the unsuccessful bidders, the county will sign the contract as early as fall 2024, according to the governor. The county has chosen the Design & Build method for the redevelopment of the spa – so the winning contractor will both design and build.
Demolition of the rear addition of the former boiler and steam plant is expected to begin this winter. “The tender for the demolition will now end in October,” the county manager said. According to councillor for economy Pavel Strolený (ANO), the region has CZK 100 million ready for the spa this year and the same amount should be in the budget for next year. “So that the preparatory and demolition works can be carried out. If it looks like it could be built next year, I think the will (to approve more money) will be there,” he said.
The study the county has now received does not include reconstruction costs. “There are drawings of all the floors and layouts of what the different parts of the building could look like,” Strolený said. After consulting with preservationists, the county will present the designs to the public at an exhibition in October or November.
The county is still working with a total reconstruction cost of CZK 1.5 billion to CZK 2 billion. “But we’ll see what it comes out of,” Špoták said. According to Strolený, there are preliminary subsidy promises, and the county wants to use subsidies from the Ministry of Culture and perhaps the EU for ecological and energy-saving construction. “For now, we are counting on the fact that the 1.5 to two billion will have to be paid by the county,” he said.
The region wants to have a multicultural centre in the spa, which has been dilapidated for 30 years. It is to house mainly a West Bohemian gallery, as well as a hall, clubhouses and offices for regional and non-profit organisations. A number of architects do not like the fact that the county did not call for an architectural competition for the spa, i.e. that it entrusted the study of one of the largest buildings directly to Heyworth. In addition, they say the Design & Build method, which the county perceives as the most efficient, is used more for linear buildings where the user and technical parameters are precisely defined. The previous management of the region, mainly ODS and TOP 09, had been preparing a new building of the regional gallery in the centre of Pilsen since 2005, which has a building permit. However, the current regional leadership does not want to build it.
Source: CTK
