The councilors of Prague 2 criticize the sale of the Vyšehrad railway station

Prague - The councilors of Prague 2 criticize the selection process for the sale of the historic train station building at Vyšehrad. The municipality unsuccessfully requested that Czech Railways transfer the monument to the district to prevent further devastation. The high price does not allow for a return on investment for a solid buyer, said Mayor Jana Černochová to reporters today. The municipality therefore fears that a casino could be established in the building, for example.
    Czech Railways did not specify how much the sale of the building should bring them. According to an expert appraisal, its value is approximately 41 million crowns. However, the interested party must factor in the costs of relocating part of the structure, repairs, and historical preservation of the building. Therefore, the municipality estimates the total costs to be over 100 million crowns.
    Utilization of the building will be complicated for the new owner because the railways want to leave the dispatcher’s room there. People from the railways will also be coming there. According to Deputy Mayor Václav Vondrášek, it will not be easy to relocate the former waiting room. It stands between the tracks, and the railways would have to halt operations on the line for a long time.
    "Our request for a gratuitous transfer to the municipality was presented; the response from the railway representative was that a selection process is ongoing and that it is not possible," said the mayor. Therefore, if the municipality were interested in the building, it would have to register for the process. The funds would first have to be approved by the council. However, according to Vondrášek, this would disadvantage the municipality because the price would be known to other interested parties.
    The railways will likely know the prospective new owner around the turn of August and September, according to spokesman Ondřej Kubala. The municipality would prefer that the property not be further devastated. They themselves wanted to build a cultural and social center there.
    Since the early 1990s, the railways have been seeking tenants for the historic building. It is now in very poor condition. According to Vondrášek, the railway office also shares the blame for this, as it should have forced the owner to take care of the monument. "Special construction offices do not function as they should," he stated. "If our building office were in charge, it would perform the necessary construction work and then would seek to recover the costs," he added. Therefore, the district council intends to file a complaint about the inactivity of the office.