Prague is considering announcing a concession procedure for the Old Town Market
Prague – The Prague City Hall is considering launching a concession procedure for the reconstruction and operation of the Old Town Market. Jan Chabr, the town council for property, told journalists today (TOP 09). Originally, the market did not want to repair the city itself for more than half a billion crowns, but in the end the councilors did not agree at the beginning of the year and did not approve the reconstruction. Concessions, in the case of which the reconstruction of the castle, the operator would exchange, for example, for additional free use, the city has already considered in the last election period.
The listed building from the end of the 19th century is located between Rytířská and 28. října streets. The municipality had it closed at the beginning of last year due to the planned reconstruction. The original estimate of repair costs was 366 million crowns without VAT, the price of 429.9 million crowns without taxes finally emerged from the two submitted prices. The price and form of the tender were then criticized, for example, by Pirates, and the city management did not approve the award of the contract because of this.
Chabr said today that the municipality is considering opening the space with only minor modifications, which is complicated by the internal layout of the hall, which has been insensitively modified under the previous regime. According to him, a better way would be to find a private operator. “We have several candidates who have an indicative interest. We do not want to go the direct lease, but the concession procedure,” he said. He added that he would like to approve further action by the end of the year.
The unapproved reconstruction was to include, in particular, the conversion of the inner hall and also the building next to the entrance to the market, which had previously served as warehouses. It was to become a glass shop window where goods would be displayed or snacks sold. The second passage from Rytířská Street was also to be restored. The background of the marketplace was planned in the basement.
The market was built between 1894 and 1897 according to the project of the architect Jindřich Fialka, who was mainly inspired by Paris. Similar markets are in, for example, Barcelona, Dresden, Budapest and Berlin.