Brno Alpha Passage celebrates 80 years

The functionalist house at the corner of Jánská and Poštovská streets celebrated its 80th anniversary. In 1937, one of the four largest interwar builders in Brno, František Hrdina, completed the construction that began in 1930. A part was already finished in 1932, but the completion was slowed down by the economic crisis, said CTK the builder's grandson, Vladimír Hrdina, who owns and operates the building.

The Alfa Passage, which connects the mentioned streets with Freedom Square, serves as both a commercial and residential space. There are various shops and services on two floors, and on the upper floors, there are 160 rental apartments. Since the beginning of June, people will also see a 1:30 scale model of the house right in the passage. It will be cut to show the internal layout as well.

The current owner's grandfather, who also built the Convalaria house at the corner of Česká and Veselá streets and participated in the construction of Pavilion A at the exhibition grounds, had the house taken by the communists after 1948. Soon after, they also evicted him 50 kilometers away from Brno. "However, my parents took him back to their apartment, and grandfather managed to cope. In 1991, the passage was returned to my parents. I was very happy; it was a great satisfaction. I didn't go around the passage during socialism; I avoided it," said Hrdina.

Since his father was not the youngest after the return, he took over the management. "At that time, there was huge interest from traders. A bad time came when shopping centers were being built. There were also problems after the banks left; large spaces were left behind. Today, the passage operates without problems," said Hrdina.

According to the managing director Věra Pohořelská, at most three shops change per year. "We try to have traders here who are perhaps the only ones in Brno with their range, who have something original, handcrafted. Something that a customer would want to come to the store for. On the contrary, we don't have anything 'chain-like' here," explained Pohořelská the strategy. One of the stores whose success surprised Hrdina is the one where people can find vacuum cleaner bags.

Since 2003, after the cinema Alfa closed, HaDivadlo has also been based in the basement. "It was the idea of Mr. Ženíšek, who has a bookstore here. We focused on culture, I invested quite a bit of money into the theater when we agreed with the Center for Experimental Theater. There was a bit of patronage in that," Hrdina stated.

The house is a cultural monument, so Hrdina must address all repairs and modifications with conservationists. "There are no problems with them. Only once did they turn down our idea when we wanted to put sliding doors at the entrances to prevent drafts in winter," added Hrdina.