Billionaire Fait will start the renovation of the riverside restaurant in Brno, the neighboring club bothers him

Brno - Brno billionaire Igor Fait has suspended his company's plan, Aurus Investments, to renovate the former excursion restaurant Na střelnici and other buildings in Anthropos Park in Brno's Pisárky district. He is concerned that the legendary Brno club Melodka, which lost its original premises, will resume operations in the neighboring building, which has a different owner. Fait's company informed ČTK of this in a press release today. The company described its relations with the owner of the neighboring building as tense and stated that it is trying to complicate the restoration plan for the restaurant by submitting objections to the building authority. The legal representative of the building owner, where Melodka will be located, denied this in a statement to ČTK.

In the press release, Fait stated that in light of the escalation of neighborhood relations, he has decided to suspend the plan for the renovation of the buildings, which will likely be declared a monument, until the relations are resolved. "Given the circumstances, I am strongly considering whether to finance the renovation from my personal funds. It would be regrettable if an effort to restore the historical spirit of Pisárecký park were thwarted by one entity and the operation of a music club that would be better suited somewhere in industrial or underground spaces. This area can serve for recreation and sports activities, as has been intended for several years. I will be monitoring how the city handles this," Fait stated.

Pavel Skřipec, the legal representative of Agency Sain, which owns the building, confirmed that neighborhood relations with Fait are tense. According to his statement, the reason is that Aurus Investment tried to purchase the building from Jana Knetig, who owns the agency Sain, so that they could demolish it. "In publicly available documentation of the business corporation Aurus Investments, there was an intention to demolish these properties. My client refused to relinquish these properties and rejected the sale of the properties for any purchase price. We perceive the media coverage of the whole matter and the aforementioned letter as another attempt to acquire the properties," Skřipec stated.

He also denied that Knetig or her agency had filed any objections against Fait's plan with the building authority. The only exceptions were objections with the environmental department of the Brno municipality regarding the planned tree removal.

The music club Melodka, which originated as a music wine bar in 1929 at the stadium complex on Kounicova Street, had to vacate its original premises in 2023, also lost alternative premises in Královo Pole last year, and is currently adapting spaces in the building adjacent to the Na Střelnici restaurant for its needs.

Fait described the location of the music club as inappropriate, stating that it does not have functional sewage or the appropriate occupancy permit for a music club. He also finds the fire safety of the premises problematic. However, this is denied by the operator of the Melodka club, Robert Banovský. "Until today, I had no idea that we had any problems with Mr. Fait. On the contrary, I sent him an email and invited him, as a well-known patron of the arts, to the opening evening at the restored Melodka. The spaces at Střelák are completely suitable for the operation of a music club, they have occupancy approval as spaces with live music and the necessary fire certificates. Our sewage system works perfectly without any issues," Banovský told ČTK.

Igor Fait bought the properties in the park from a private owner and from the city two years ago. By purchasing private parcels, he helped unblock long-standing disputes that had hindered the city's plans to restore the neighboring sports complex.