Karlovy Vary will no longer continue with the concession procedure for the repair and lease of Elisabeth Spa. They will reimburse the municipal company 1.5 million crowns as compensation for management costs, but the upcoming contract will be canceled by the new city management. The further future of the listed building, which is in urgent need of repair, is once again uncertain.
The Alžbětina Lázně building is currently managed by a company owned by the city. Last year, it reported a loss of 4.8 million crowns. More than a hundred years old building and at the same time the last public bath in the city needs necessary investments in a swimming pool, leaky windows and a bad roof through which it leaks into the building.
The preparation of the concession procedure, which was supposed to solve the situation of the city spa, took four years. At the end of the process, the spa should get an investor who would participate in the repair and subsequently operate the facility.
The city does not like hundreds of millions
The former city management was chosen by the association of Hochtief and Royal Spa. The companies offered to renovate the listed building for 561 million, including 450 million from the city's money. Royal Spa would operate a spa in the building for 25 years and pay rent to the city. However, the contract was not signed before the October municipal elections - and the new city management is not going to do so.
"We do not like the concession procedure, as presented and proposed, and we will discuss a different form. We are bothered by the city's commitment of 450 million crowns for repairs. Considering how the city's budget looks like, it would not be good now," said Mayor Andrea Pfeffer Ferklová (for ANO).
Exprimator Kulhánek criticizes the decision
According to former mayor and now opposition representative Petr Kulhánek (KOA), the decision of the current leadership is a mistake. As he said, the concession procedure was preceded by a detailed analysis of the market, and it is difficult for anyone to offer more favorable conditions than those resulting from the tender procedure. According to him, the city will have to continue to invest in order to save the building.
According to the mayor, the spa needs the first necessary investment in repairs for six million crowns; he wants to be clear about their future by the summer. "We will do everything to keep the city spa here, on the other hand, we have to find someone to rent it," she said.
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source: ČT24 Video reportage, CTK
