Praha terminated the leases of the vendors from the Prague market

Prague - Prague has terminated the leases of the stallholders from the Prague Market in Holešovice. The clearing of empty stalls will begin in the coming days. Some of them do not pay rent, and they also obstruct the planned reconstruction of the halls, causing difficulties even for rescuers, for example. The city is also preparing a study that will determine what will be where in the market. A brothel will also disappear from the market. This was stated today by the mayor's assistant Pavel Vyhnánek (Prague Sobě) to reporters. The cost of the repairs and when they will take place is unclear. The manager of the area will be the company Solid, with which the city cooperates. The area was established at the end of the 19th century as central slaughterhouses.

There are about 115 stalls in the market, and less than a third of them have a contract with the city, "Others do not have a contract with anyone, they are simply here. We do not want the assortment to disappear, but for the space to be cultivated," said Vyhnánek. According to him, only about one-fifth of them properly pay rent to the accounts of the capital city. Furthermore, the stalls have never had the approval of the building authority, which is why they are considered illegal constructions. "There is also no statement from the heritage protectors," he said. Additionally, counterfeit goods are sold in the stalls.

The stalls obstruct passage and access for rescuers. "If a fire broke out here, firefighters would not even be able to reach half of the halls," said Vyhnánek. They also cause problems for workers who are to repair the halls and also obstruct the repair of utility networks. If the stallholders do not clear the space, the city will file an eviction lawsuit.

The use of the area will stem from the study. The city is now preparing its assignment, and it could be completed later this year. It will determine when and in what order the area will be reconstructed. There is to be a space there where retail, culture, and restaurants will function together.

The city is suing the former manager of the area, Delta Centre. A few years ago, it terminated its contract. The company appealed against the court ruling that ordered it to vacate the area. At the same time, a brothel known as Showpark is to disappear from one of the halls. "This is not about ideology, a fight against prostitution or morality, but it is not possible for there to be a brothel in a monument-protected area belonging to the city. It's like putting bookmarks with pornographic content on the Prague website," said Vyhnánek.

The area of the original Prague slaughterhouses was established in 1895. It functioned as a slaughterhouse until the 1980s and began to change into a market. The area is declared a cultural monument. Since the 1990s, the market has been leased for 50 years. The Delta Centre company currently leases the area from which the city terminated the contract in 2012, and the dispute is still being resolved by the court.