<Cultural House Svoboda in Cheb will be transformed into a new building>

Cheb - The city of Cheb will practically convert the cultural house Svoboda into a new building. The reconstruction, which is set to begin next year, will create a multifunctional cultural facility with a large hall, restaurants and bars, rehearsal rooms, and dance floors. The costs are expected to be around 130 million crowns, said the vice mayor of Cheb, Miroslav Plevný, to reporters today.
    The city purchased Svoboda last year for 16 million CZK. Initially, only necessary repairs costing a few million were considered, but the idea of completely redesigning the building eventually prevailed.
    The architectural design was created by architect Adam Rujbr, who proposed adding additional sections around the existing building to create entirely new spaces. "It will differ fundamentally. Very little will remain of the original appearance," said Rujbr. The expansion of the new parts of the building will increase the built-up area by almost half.
    The building will have one underground and two above-ground floors and will be rectangular in shape with a large glazed front wall. The new arrangement will also allow for more entrances, including significantly simplified supply access.
    The core of the building will be a large hall with a capacity of about 500 people, which is about twice as much as the currently used hall on Kamenná Street.
    According to Plevný, the costs for the construction part should be around 95 to 100 million, and the interiors will cost an additional 30 to 35 million.
    The council has already approved the framework costs in the budget outlook for the coming years. However, the final approval of the construction will be part of the budget approval for next year, which will include the first part of the costs, about 50 million.
   "The city will take out a loan for eight years for the construction, which will mean payments of about 15 million per year. We could cover it from the regular budget, but that would block other investments, including those we could finance with the help of European grants,” explained Plevný.
    The reconstruction of the cultural house Svoboda is expected to be completed by mid-2011.