The municipality will buy the dilapidated building of the Ústí nad Labem spa Vrbenského

foto: www.usti-aussig.net

Ústí nad Labem - The municipality of the Ústí nad Labem district of Střekov wants to buy the dilapidated Vrbenský spa building and adjacent land. In the first phase, the plan is to secure the building and later decide what to do with it based on possible grant titles, said the mayor of Střekov, Miroslav Štráchal (ANO), to ČTK. The spa, which was a modern bathing facility in its time, was built in 1931 for its employees by factory owner Georg Schicht. It has been closed since the 1990s.
    The spa building was unsuccessfully privatized and has been gradually deteriorating for the past 20 years. Today, it is a popular place for homeless people and drug addicts. The municipality has been considering the purchase of the building for many years, and only now has it found the money in the city budget. The council allocated nearly 2.5 million crowns for the purchase and securing of the building. "We will buy the building for two million. It is much less than the estimated price of the property. The first step will be to secure the building. In accordance with the instructions of the building office, we will make adjustments and clean both the building and the garden," said Štráchal.
    However, the building will likely not serve its original purpose, that is bathing. "It would be nice, but we consider it unrealistic. It would require about 100 million crowns. And that is out of the question," added Štráchal.
    What the building should be used for will be decided later by the municipality. It will be crucial what grant titles will be announced. The city cannot afford to renovate the building and its surroundings out of its own budget. "We would like to successfully implement a facility for seniors or a cultural facility, which is missing in Střekov. But everything will depend on European grants," Štráchal added.
    The last option is the demolition of the building. However, according to the current structural assessment, it is not compromised, and demolition would cost about five million crowns.