The Liberec city hall saved the historic municipal baths

Liberec - The Liberec city council has managed to return the Municipal Baths of Emperor Franz Joseph I to good structural condition. The listed building is no longer threatened by further devastation. The city has invested 25 million crowns into it over the past four years and next year will spend five million on the restoration of the façade from Masaryk Street. This was stated by the mayor's assistant Ondřej Červinka to journalists today.
    "This will allow us to calmly select a suitable investor; we are no longer pressed for time," he added. The city wanted a House of Health to be established in the baths. However, its construction would cost 470 million crowns, which the city hall does not have. It tried to obtain funding from the so-called Norwegian funds, but was unsuccessful.
    The baths are expected to regain their glory thanks to the Israeli company Beit Amzaleg, which has promised to build a relaxation center with saunas, massages, and fitness, as well as a luxury small hotel and a private plastic surgery clinic that will, among other things, provide rejuvenation treatments. The council approved at the beginning of the year that the city would lease the listed building to the company and sell the property to it after all repairs and new constructions are completed. "However, we have not signed the contract yet," noted deputy Ivo Palouš. According to him, the city will soon invite the Israeli company to express whether its interest in the baths still exists. "Otherwise, we will approach another investor," he pointed out.
    The neo-Renaissance Liberec baths, which the city purchased in 2005 for nine million crowns at auction, were built between 1900 and 1902 according to the design of Vienna architect Peter Paul Brang. They were established at the time of the greatest expansion of the then-German town and form an architecturally unique complex with the neighboring North Bohemian Museum and a children's polyclinic. In recent years, the building has changed owners several times, none of whom have practically invested in it.