Liberec canceled the results of the tender for the repair of the pool; it must investigate the objections

Liberec - The City Council of Liberec today canceled the result of the tender for the repair of the municipal swimming pool for three quarters of a billion crowns. The reason is that the municipality must verify the objections received against the winning bidder. Mayor Jaroslav Zámečník (Mayors for the Liberec Region) informed ČTK of this today. For Liberec, this is one of the largest contracts in its modern history. Today's decision of the councilors, according to the mayor, is not related to the corruption case currently being investigated by the police.

"The objections relate to the veracity of some of the documented data from the winning bidder. And we must now verify that veracity," said the mayor.

In the competition, the city received six bids. The lowest, at 748.8 million crowns excluding VAT, was submitted by the company Metrostav DIZ, which was also selected by the city councilors as the winner at the end of March. "However, in the subsequent fifteen-day period, which the law prescribes from the announcement of the winner, other bidders may submit objections. And this also happened, as another bidder in line submitted objections. The administrator, which is a specialized law firm, deemed those objections necessary to verify, so they recommended that we cancel the decision made several weeks ago and again submit the objections to the evaluation committee," Zámečník stated.

He expects that the committee will invite the winning bidder to explain and document the disputed data. "And then a decision will be made again, and it will be returned to the city council. We anticipate that this process will last about a month, maybe a little shorter, and in a month we will know what recommendation we have from the committee and what the city council will decide next: whether the first winning bidder will remain or if it will change," the mayor added.

The swimming stadium, built in the mid-1980s, has three swimming pools, waterslides, saunas, whirlpools, and other attractions. The sports facility urgently needs repair - important technological equipment is aging, and there are leaks in the roof. The glazing of the building is also inadequate, and the main pool's basin is leaking. The area is also awaiting reconstruction. The most significant change will be that there will no longer be separate changing rooms for men and women on the ground floor, but a large barrier-free changing room will be created in the building's basement. Wellness facilities will be where today's women's changing rooms are, and fitness will be where the men's changing rooms are. Thus, apart from the pools, only the pizzeria will remain in its place. Due to modernization, the swimming stadium will be closed for two years; its operation ceased at the end of March, and it is currently being cleared out.