Náchod will announce an architectural competition for the New Tepna district

Náchod - The town of Náchod will announce an international urbanistic-architectural competition at the beginning of May for the utilization and construction of the land of the former textile factory Tepna near the city center. A new urban quarter called Nová Tepna should be created in the area near the Náchod castle, covering almost three hectares. "The conditions of the competition and its assignment have already been approved by the town council," said Nina Adlof, a spokeswoman for the municipality, to ČTK today. The design of Nová Tepna could be known at the turn of this year and next year.

The announcement of the competition was preceded by discussions with experts, the public, affected authorities, and potential investors since last autumn. According to Deputy Mayor Jan Čtvrtečka (CSSD), the competition assignment emphasizes greenery in public spaces, tree lines along the promenade, a car-free environment, playgrounds for children, a natural water element, and the connection of life in Nová Tepna with the nearby castle hill.

The strategic plot of land near the Náchod castle, covering 2.57 hectares, was purchased by the town in June 2018 from JTH Holding for nearly 56 million crowns. The town also spent another two million crowns on purchasing adjacent land for building a road that would connect Plhovská street with Karlovo náměstí. After the purchase, the municipality had the piles of rubble from the demolished Tepna cleared away. Currently, part of the land serves as a parking lot.

For the purchase of land from JTH Holding and for the acquisition of parcels for the road, the town took out a loan of 58 million crowns from Komerční banka. In January 2019, the town paid off the loan prematurely, a year and a half earlier.

JTH Holding wanted to build shops on the land. However, the hypermarket project near the castle faced many opponents in the town of twenty thousand. The company eventually sold the land, along with piles of rubble, to the municipality.