Pardubice is preparing a regulatory plan for the mills and surrounding area

Pardubice - The owners of the Automatic Mills in Pardubice must wait for more specific plans for the redevelopment of the area until the city completes the regulatory plan for the protected building and its surroundings. The mill owners welcome the city's step, as it provides them with enough time to transform the area, said architect Lukáš Smetana today to ČTK, who owns the mills with his wife.

"Until a regulatory plan is created, we cannot project, which would slow down a classic developer because they have their own funds tied up that they need to circulate. While my wife and I are not classic developers; we bought the property to save it and use it appropriately," said Smetana.

The architect is planning a summer trip across Europe to view already renovated brownfields and see what works in them. Smetana previously stated that the mills would be accessible to the public and that part of the area could serve for permanent housing. "The culture itself is not strong enough to fill the area," the architect added.

The city is currently planning to announce a public competition for the creation of a regulatory plan. "Experts in the field of architecture will add restrictions and limits to the territorial plan in the locality, telling us how it would be ideal to address the area," said Mayor Martin Charvát.

City representatives have already preliminarily agreed with the Smetanas that in the historic part of the mills, designed by architect Josef Gočár, there could be polytechnic workshops for elementary schools. It will likely be possible to draw European subsidies for them.

"The workshops would be fully utilized; in the mornings, they would be used by elementary schools, in the afternoons and on weekends by the public. They aim to support technical education for youth," said Smetana.

The mills were built between 1909 and 1911. Further extensions took place in the 1920s and 1960s. The area has been abandoned since spring 2013. The Austrian company GoodMills unsuccessfully offered the mills to the city, later selling them through a real estate agency with an asking price of 25 million crowns. At the end of last year, the sale was conducted by envelope method.