Brno will consider the renovation of the heritage-protected Arnold Villa with a kindergarten

source: www.msdrobneho.cz

Brno - The Brno city council has taken the first step towards parents whose children attend the heritage-protected Arnold Villa preschool. The council approved the development of an investment plan for the villa's renovation, said Jana Bohuňovská (ODS), the deputy mayor, to ČTK. The plan aims to assess what needs to be repaired in the villa, how much it would cost, and how the renovation would affect future operating costs. However, the plan does not mean that the renovation will take place.
Arnold Villa is one of the most discussed preschools in Brno. The building is in poor condition, and parents fear that the preschool may be closed due to this.
The villa is among the oldest preschools in Brno. While it cannot offer modern facilities, parents appreciate it primarily for its spacious garden and architecture. The villa is located in Černá Pole near the functionalist Tugendhat villa, which is the only Czech modern art building listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to Bohuňovská, the proximity of the Tugendhat villa must be taken into account by architects during the renovation of Arnold Villa.
Architecture students recently addressed the topic as well. They proposed that the spatial shortcomings of the preschool, which currently has too few toilets for the number of children, be resolved with an annex or a new building connected to the preschool via a corridor. However, the extension will need to be designed so that it does not affect the perception of Tugendhat villa.
Arnold Villa has been a heritage site since last year. The process of heritage designation was initiated by Pavel Ciprian, the director of the Brno City Museum. Experts began assessing the heritage value of the building at a time when there were speculations about whether the then city council of Brno-Sever intended to close the preschool due to the building's poor condition and repurpose the property in the desirable Černá Pole location. A study estimating renovation costs at fifty million crowns allegedly supported this speculation. "The villa is not that large, and today a new house of this size can be built for ten or fifteen million crowns. I don't know why the existing building should be renovated so expensively," responded Daniel Rychnovský (KDU-ČSL), the then deputy mayor, to the study last year.
Today, the Brno-Sever city council is led by different people. They support the preservation of the preschool in the building.