Praha expects to receive the construction permit for the Budějovická terrace by the end of the week

Prague - The leadership of the capital city expects to obtain a building permit for the reconstruction of the terrace above the C line metro station Budějovická by the end of this week. Subsequently, it will announce a tender for the company that will carry out the repairs. The reconstruction is set to begin this year before the holidays, with costs estimated at 40 million CZK. City councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09) said this to journalists today. The terrace was temporarily closed in January two years ago due to its emergency state. The city wants to prepare a concept for transforming the surroundings of the station in the future.

"Documentation for the selection of the contractor has been prepared; in February, the tender for the contractor will start, and in June 2020, the reconstruction will begin," Chabr said.

The main part of the repairs will be ensured by the capital city. This concerns the terraces and other public areas. Other parts will be addressed by their owners, such as the House of Housing Culture (DBK).

In the future, the transformation of the surroundings of the station should be addressed. This will be overseen by a city organization known as the city developer, which Prague is preparing to establish. "Currently, only the emergency condition is being addressed," Chabr said. In the past, a study for the reconstruction, estimated at about 200 million CZK, was created but was not carried out, and the current city leadership rejected it.

The terrace was built in 1977 and has never been repaired or maintained. A problem is, for example, water infiltration into the structure. The emergency status has been known since 2010. Moreover, the structure legally belonged to no one. It was only in 2013 that officials from the city hall of Prague 4 decided it belonged to the capital city.

The passage at the southern exit from the metro was closed by Prague on January 22 two years ago. Three days before that, the metro exit was closed. The magistrate subsequently proposed to demolish the terrace. However, after almost ten months, they ultimately decided to support the terrace with braces, which are still present at the metro exit, and the southern exit from the metro was reopened. The closure of the passage was initially unpopular with DBK. The city unsuccessfully negotiated with them about a possible sale of the terrace to the shopping center. The city hall of Prague 4 also opposed the closure at that time.