The former exchange in the market in Holešovice will be renovated for 225 million CZK

Prague – The listed building of the former exchange in the Prague market in Holešovice will be restored. The city will announce a public tender for its repair. The costs are preliminarily estimated at 225 million crowns. This comes from a document approved today by the Prague councilors. The city is announcing the tender for the second time after canceling it the first time due to documentation issues. The exchange building is a cultural monument and is in poor condition. The owner of the market area is the capital city, which is gradually repairing it.

The contract will be divided into two parts. The first part will be for the overall reconstruction of the exchange building. This will be the core part of the work, which will include restoration and craft work. The second part concerns the construction of facilities for the gastronomic operation.

The exchange has been in a state of emergency for a long time and is closed. The city has been planning the reconstruction for several years. The southern extension and the additions of the exchange are in particularly bad structural condition. The building is also struggling with a number of static defects that threaten the stability of the structures and the safety of visitors to the area. Static defects are evident in the areas of the original southern wall, and wood-decomposing fungi have been found in the wooden structures.

In the past, several renovations and modifications have been carried out on the exchange building, but these have not contributed to the good condition of the structure.

The tender for the repair was announced by the city last April and canceled in October. An incorrect measurement report or technical parameters were published. This caused incorrect data in the calculations for the designers. Some items required in the project were not included in the measurement report. Due to the subsequent delay in the submission deadline for bids, there were ultimately different deadlines in the public procurement form and in its electronic version. The tender conditions thus became contradictory.

The capital city intends to gradually invest two to three billion crowns in the repair of the market over the next ten years. The area will serve cultural, commercial, and gastronomic functions. There will also be offices, a supermarket, and a viewing tower will be built. Access will be expanded, new greenery will be planted, and rainwater will be collected in underground reservoirs.

The area, originally the Prague slaughterhouse, was founded in 1895. It operated as a slaughterhouse until the 1980s, when it began converting into a market. The area is a cultural monument.