The Národní třída metro station will be closed due to the construction of the Copa center

Prague - Due to the construction of the administrative and residential center Copa, the Národní třída station on line B of the Prague metro will be closed on Tuesday. Metro trains will not stop there for about two years. Aneta Řehková from the press department of the Prague Public Transit Company stated in response to a query from ČTK that the company will pay over half a billion crowns for the repairs of the station. The multifunctional center will cost the investor around four billion crowns.
    According to the public transit company, the construction will affect 21,000 passengers. People can exit either at the Můstek or Karlovo náměstí metro stations. Tram operations, especially on the busy Spálená street, will be maintained.
    The station itself and the vestibule of the Národní třída station will undergo a complete transformation in the upcoming months. Řehková said that the reconstruction of the station will cost 233 million crowns, and an additional 275 million will be spent on shortening the escalators and equipping the new vestibule, which will be relocated underground. The construction of the vestibule, costing 88 million crowns, will be funded by the investor. In the future, people will thus exit the metro directly into the new building with shops, cafes, and offices.
    The construction of the Copa center and the repair of the metro station have been delayed for several years due to the Ministry of Culture's decision regarding the heritage protection of the Gothic cellars that were found near Národní třída. Cultural Minister Alena Hanáková (TOP 09) recently confirmed the decision of her predecessor Jiří Besser (STAN) that only part of the cellars will be protected. The ministry thus complied with the investor's proposal. There is now nothing standing in the way of the construction.
    The project is co-owned by the CPI group of entrepreneur RadovanVítek and entrepreneur Sebastian Pawlowski, who has often been associated with the leadership of Prague in the past. From the materials available to ČTK, it is evident that the public transit company sold the investor land on Národní třída for 425 million crowns in 2007. The multifunctional structure is expected to have four underground and seven or eight above-ground floors. The six interconnected buildings will include apartments, offices, shopping passages, and, according to earlier information, a parking lot for 250 cars. The building will be connected to the Tesco department store.