The mayor of Brno-střed has withdrawn from the plan for the multifunctional building Wilson

Brno - The mayor of the Brno-střed district, Libor Šťástka (ODS), has abandoned the long-standing plan of the city hall to build a Wilson house with 80 apartments and shops in the middle of the villa district of Masaryk. Instead, he wants a building that is appropriate to the existing structures with services and additionally with apartments, he told ČTK. The building is to be constructed in the former military area near Náměstí Míru.
    Brno obtained the former barracks area from the Ministry of Defense. Free of charge, but with the condition of non-commercial use. Then the city hall signed contracts with a developer for the construction of the Wilson house. However, the army did not consider it non-commercial and imposed a fine on Brno. The city paid ten million crowns. The former mayor of Brno-střed, Dagmar Hrubá, later faced court due to the contracts with the investor, allegedly disadvantageous for the city hall. A final decision has not yet been made.
    "The current state is still that it is a sealed area with amaranth and ruins," Šťástka pointed out. He emphasized that officials have not yet closed the survey in the Brno-střed newsletter or on the internet pages, where people can express their opinions on the space's use. So far, the leading option is to hand over the area for a symbolic rent to the non-profit sector, which will secure grants and use the complex according to its own vision.
    Šťástka supports the idea of revitalizing the area and building a new facility with medical offices, a pharmacy, a kindergarten, a library, and rooms for various clubs. Additionally, there could be apartments, he said. "I personally do not oppose a reasonable form of new housing, for example for young families. This means no grand apartment building," he described. He emphasized that the construction should be appropriate to the surroundings.
    It is unclear when the city hall will choose one of the options and start to implement it. The Brno magistrate and the deputy mayor, Oliver Pospíšil (ČSSD), must also be involved in the decision, and he spoke before the elections about how the project is trapped in legal snags. According to him, no decision can be made until the lawsuit with Hrubá is over. According to Šťástka, it will be crucial whether the original contract for the free transfer from the army to the city remains valid. "The court that (not yet final) exonerated Dagmar Hrubá stated that it is not valid," Šťástka told ČTK in August. Pospíšil confirmed this at the time with the note that such a statement from the court in a criminal matter is not binding and the court would have to decide on the invalidity of the contract in civil proceedings. Nevertheless, the statement from the court in the criminal matter could serve as a guideline, he added.