The giant headquarters building of Škoda will be purchased by the university

Plzeň - The giant building of the former headquarters of Plzeň's Škoda Holding, which has been used only to a very small extent for several years, will probably be purchased by the University of West Bohemia (ZČU) for less than 200 million crowns. It will move the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Health Studies there as early as the next academic year. The costs of adjusting the building will be roughly in the tens of millions of crowns, university rector Josef Průša told ČTK today.
    "We have preliminarily agreed on the price. The Senate has already discussed the purchase and was not opposed. It now has to be approved by the university's board of directors, which will meet later in September," he added. The rector confirmed that the price would be below 200 million CZK. ZČU plans to secure funding for the purchase from EU funds and from the sale of old townhouses where the Faculty of Philosophy ZČU currently educates nearly 4,000 students at five locations in Plzeň. The university originally planned to build a new faculty, which according to Průša would not be realistic for another 20 to 30 years.
    The Faculty of Health Sciences, with 700 students, is renting a building in Lochotín. "It is also not together. Additionally, it is planning significant expansion, as the demand for graduates is considerable," the rector added. The school trains general nurses, midwives, radiology assistants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiology technicians, and emergency medical technicians.
    According to Průša, about a third of the four-story headquarters on Tylova Street, the furthest from the first Škoda gate, is "still in rough construction" because a polyclinic was supposed to be built there. "The remaining two-thirds would require only minor investments," he added. ZČU would initially leave the current tenants in the building. They would have to move out within two years.
    Škoda Holding, which renovated the building 13 years ago, has built a new, significantly smaller headquarters this year. Last year, the city hall was still interested in the headquarters, planning to consolidate seven offices into it. At that time, Škodovka wanted 220 million crowns for the sale of the building. According to the city hall's estimates, the reconstruction of the building into offices would cost hundreds of millions of crowns. "The building is relatively in the city center, easily accessible by public transport. There is a parking lot for more than 300 cars and a bus station," said deputy mayor Petr Rund a year ago.
    The holding currently uses the building almost not at all. In the 1980s, Škodovka employed 40,000 people, but now it employs 3,000.