The Liberec Region Council will today discuss the purchase of the hotel and transmitter Ještěd

Liberec - The Liberec Regional Council will today discuss the purchase of the mountain hotel and transmitter Ještěd in Liberec from Czech Radiocommunications (ČRa), and it should approve the purchase agreement. The regional leadership has been negotiating the acquisition of this Liberec landmark for nearly two years. The region will pay 181 million crowns for Ještěd, and an additional nearly three million will be added for furniture, equipment, and other accessories. The region has had the funds prepared since last year and will not need to incur debt for this.

The mountain hotel and transmitter Ještěd have been in operation since 1973 and are among the most original architectural works in the Czech Republic. Architect Karel Hubáček received the prestigious international Perret Award for the project in 1969. The building was chosen by the public as the Czech construction of the 20th century. ČRa has owned the hotel and transmitter since 2000, acquiring them for 85 million crowns and investing tens of millions more in repairs. Ještěd was offered to the Ministry of Culture, which, however, is not interested in this valuable building listed on the indicative UNESCO heritage list.

Ještěd has been a national cultural monument since 2006. The Liberec region discussed its purchase as early as 2008 when it was led by a coalition headed by the ODS. ČRa then offered the building not only to the region but also to the city, which, however, refused to buy the building. A year later, the new regional representation led by the ČSSD halted the negotiations, stating that there was no money for the purchase and that the prepared 100 million would be used to pre-finance the reconstruction of regional roads that had received subsidies from the Regional Operational Program (ROP).

If the council approves the purchase and agreement today, the governor is expected to sign it by Wednesday. However, the building is in poor condition and urgently needs reconstruction, with preliminary costs estimated at 400 million crowns. Therefore, in March, the region plans to announce a public competition for project preparation, with 15 million crowns allocated in the budget for this. The region aims to have the project completed by the end of next year and intends to discuss funding options with the government.