Historical parquet flooring from OD Breda can be purchased by interested parties as collectible items

Opava - Historical parquet floors from the former Breda department store in Opava can be purchased by interested parties as collectible items. The proceeds from the sale will go towards the next part of a documentary about the history of this monument, which was recently purchased by the city and is planning its reconstruction and new use. ČTK was informed today by the founder of the Society for the Rescue of the Breda Department Store, Linda Bittová.

The society offers the parquet in sets of one or three pieces framed for 1500 and 2000 crowns, respectively. "The parquet is often damaged by a fire that affected the building in the past. There is a lot of interest in them. However, we will only put several dozen pieces up for sale in total," Bittová stated. She added that the parquet is cleaned and has a surface finish. Additionally, they are marked with a engraved logo of the original Breda department store.

The project to sell the parquet as collectible items has been in preparation by the society for several years. "First, we had to negotiate with the city and officials. We received consent to use the parquet in this way, which will not be reused," Bittová said. She added that the society also negotiated with the operators of the current Breda shopping center, which owns the original logo of the department store.

The Opava entrepreneur, this year marks 150 years since the birth of co-founder and later owner of the Breda & Weinstein department store, David Weinstein. The society for the rescue of the Breda department store is preparing an exhibition on this occasion, which will map his life. As one of the reminders of this anniversary, the society will offer paintings in the form of collectible historical parquet floors. The proceeds from the sales will be used to fund the continuation of the documentary film Department Store II by Petr Gavl. The first part of the documentary premiered in 2020.

At the time of its opening in 1928, Breda was the largest department store in the republic. The building from 1927, which was created by converting the original department store, long fell into disrepair. The cultural monument, which belonged to the bankrupt company of entrepreneur Kamil Kolka, was acquired by the city two years ago for 39.5 million crowns. The total costs for the reconstruction were originally estimated at around 300 million crowns, but are now 200 million higher. The annual operating costs of the building with 10,000 square meters should amount to approximately 17.7 million crowns.

The new use of the building will arise from an international architectural competition. The city council has already announced it. 40 applicants from both the Czech Republic and abroad have entered. A jury made up of representatives from the city and leading figures in the field selected five firms or studios to continue their work. The subsequent second round will determine the finalists, and the city will receive the final proposals by April 26, 2024.