According to the assessment of the magistrate, the Jalta passage is not in a state of emergency

Brno - According to the construction-technical assessment commissioned by the Brno city council, the Jalta passage building is not in a state of emergency, and technically, the facility corresponds to its age from the 1930s. City officials, who were originally supposed to move in this September, will have to wait for the completion of renovations. The repair of the above-ground floors for officials will cost 18 million, and the foundation and basement remediation will be around 30 million, said Deputy Mayor Radomír Jonáš (ODS) to ČTK today. Initially, the opening of the building for officials was estimated to cost twenty million. The Greens are demanding the cancellation of the purchase contract.
    In the past, the Greens and the Christian Democrats, who are coalition partners of ODS at the city hall, opposed the purchase of the Jalta passage. Both parties had their own expert assessments conducted, which indicate that the overall renovation of the heritage-protected Jalta would cost hundreds of millions of crowns.
    According to the published assessment, reconstruction is not so urgently needed. "Only some of the load-bearing columns and ceilings in the above-ground floors and basement will need to be reinforced. However, remediation of selected parts of the load-bearing structures in the foundations is not excluded," said Petr Štěpánek, Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology, to reporters today. He was one of the experts who prepared the assessment together with Project Building. According to him, previous building assessments were not incorrect; they just were not based on as many materials, and the structural engineers were not allowed to drill into walls and foundations during their preparation.
    According to Martin Ander from the Greens, the assessment confirms the opposition's criticisms that the Jalta passage is not in a condition for immediate use and for officials to move in. The cost of repairs is also gradually rising from an initial 20 million to the current 50 million crowns, said Ander regarding the assessment's conclusions. The Greens will demand an immediate halt to construction work and a re-discussion of the Jalta purchase at the city council, according to Ander.
    The city acquired the Jalta passage from businessman Miroslav Lekeš in a secret vote in exchange for three buildings in the city center, land, and an 18 million crown supplement. The total value of these properties exceeds 96 million crowns. The exchange was later challenged with a criminal complaint as disadvantageous and influenced by corruption. Therefore, the police also investigated the transaction, but the case was eventually shelved.