Prachatice will rent the architecturally valuable villa of the Živá vila association

Prachatice - The architecturally valuable villa of Johann Nepomuk Kral will be leased by the town of Prachatice to the Živá vila association, which previously operated a community center there. The annual rent will be 10,000 crowns. The representatives decided on this today. At the end of August, the association plans to organize a music festival in the villa.

The committee that met regarding the villa unanimously recommended the lease, said Barbora Koritenská, a member of the Živá vila association and a representative for Živé Prachatice, to ČTK today. Today, 11 out of 17 present representatives voted for the lease, while six abstained.

The association was the only interested party that applied for the selection procedure. The villa had previously housed a storage facility for the Technical Services, and opposition representatives stated that drug addicts had gathered there and damaged the premises.

"Before we start organizing cultural events, the building needs quite a bit of maintenance. It needs to be painted, cleaned up, and the grounds taken care of. By the end of August, we would be able to organize a music festival there," Koritenská said. The association wants to organize events focused on alternative culture, which is lacking in Prachatice, she added.

From 2014 to 2016, the villa served as a community center operated by the Živá vila association. The town then did not extend its lease agreement. The villa is expected to be demolished in the future due to the planned realignment of road II/141, which, according to older plans, will run in the section Prachatice - Těšovice. However, according to opposition representatives from the Živé Prachatice movement, it is clear that the realignment will not be constructed in the foreseeable future.

The house of Johann Nepomuk Kral, designed by Vienna architect Fritz Reichelt in the 1930s, is regarded by preservationists as one of the highest-quality purist-functional buildings in the region, inspired by the architecture of Adolf Loos. The value of the house is complemented by its historical significance. It was built by Johann Nepomuk Kral, who led a wholesale business in colonial goods, freight transport, and a malt coffee factory in Prachatice. The foundation of the company was linked to the establishment of the railway in the region at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.