Brno will have documentation prepared for the Creative Center

Brno - The representatives of Brno today approved the procurement of project documentation for 24 million crowns to build a Creative Center for meetings of artists. It will be created in the dilapidated and empty building of the former prison on Cejl Street, which the Ministry of Culture has declared a cultural monument. It is estimated to cost 400 million crowns. The city wants to draw part of the funds from the European Union. The center could be completed in five years, said the deputy mayor responsible for culture, Matěj Hollan (Žít Brno), to ČTK.

The funding for the project documentation was approved by 32 representatives, one was against and 12 abstained. According to Hollan, the project documentation will also specify the costs of construction. The document will unify the city's vision of the center's appearance and the ministry's conditions for preserving certain parts of the prison. According to Hollan, it is not possible to intervene, for example, in the death cell or the baroque chapel, which the city did not intend to do. Work could begin in 2019, Hollan said. The center is expected to have studios, exhibition spaces, and historical exhibits.

The declaration as a cultural monument was requested by the National Heritage Institute, which considers the building not only as historical but also as a memorial site from the Nazi and communist era, said Zdeněk Vácha, director of the Brno National Heritage Institute, to ČTK earlier.

Last year, Brno carried out the most necessary work on the building for about six million crowns, which aimed to save it from further deterioration. The work focused primarily on repairing the roof trusses and roof, from which water was leaking inside. The rescue repairs lasted about six months. A historical construction survey was also conducted, which revealed the location of the sought execution site. It was located in the women's yard between the windows of Cell 64. The prison was established in the 18th century. It served its purpose from 1784 to 1956. It was replaced by the prison in Bohunice.