Pardubice want to buy part of the Automatic Mills

Pardubice - The city council of Pardubice today approved the placement of Central Polytechnical Workshops for schools in the area of Automatic Mills. The city should purchase the former packaged flour warehouse from a private owner, who is asking for seven million crowns for the warehouse and another seven million for the project for the new building. The city plans to build a new facility on the site of the warehouse for approximately 148 million. In its lower part, the city gallery of Pardubice is expected to find a new home.

The gallery is currently in rented spaces of a historic granary at Příhrádek. "The spaces seemed like the only possible ones at the time, but they are inadequate from a long-term development perspective. The vaulted ceilings do not meet the needs of a modern gallery at all. We are also mainly paying rent, but we will now be moving into our own," stated the deputy mayor Jakub Rychtecký (ČSSD).

The owners of the mills complex, architect Lukáš Smetana and his wife, are asking for seven million crowns for the flour warehouse with the land and another seven million for the project for the new building. The city was supposed to pay seven million for the previously proposed building rights and complete project documentation.

The final purchase agreement is expected to be approved by the councilors at their meeting on June 21. The initial cost estimate for the new building is 148 million. A larger portion of the funds could be obtained by the city from European funds.