In H. Králové, the demolition of the first cycle tower has started, having processed thousands of bicycles

Hradec Králové - The demolition of the bike tower has begun at Riegrovo náměstí near the main train station in Hradec Králové. The work is scheduled to take approximately a month, said Rudolf Bernart from Systematica, the company constructing the bike tower, to ČTK today. Hradec Králové is the first city in the Czech Republic where a glass parking tower for bikes began operation in 2013 and is also the first to have it removed. Since last June, it has been out of operation due to a dispute between the city and the manufacturer.

"The glass is starting to be removed. Next week, we will begin dismantling the steel structure. Then we will tackle the foundation to restore it to its original state," Bernart told ČTK. Part of the disassembled tower will go to scrap, while the rest will end up in storage. "Development has progressed in that time," Bernart told ČTK.

The tower, which was built in front of the Černigov hotel on two plots of land, one municipal and one belonging to the hotel owner, gained considerable popularity during its operation. According to the manufacturer, nearly 150,000 people used the tower in five years, and it was utilized on average by more than 70 percent. According to Bernart, the current situation can be attributed to the city. The octagonal glass and steel tube, which offered space for more than 110 bikes, had to be removed due to the planned demolition of the hotel.

"We had an agreement with the city that during the operation of the tower, it would find a replacement location and relocate it. That did not happen," Bernart told ČTK. He stated that the situation did not change even after the elections. "I don't see any effort from the new leadership (of the town hall) to solve the problem," he added.

The town hall denies this. According to city representatives, it was not possible to find suitable plots for its location near the train station. "The reasons were not on the part of the city. The city adopted a resolution in 2017 to purchase the bike tower, but on the condition that the owner of the tower, Systematica, would provide such legal relationship to the plots that would enable the operation of the facility, which did not happen," said mayor Alexandr Hrabálek (ODS) today.

While the city agreed to use its own land for the operation of the bike tower, the owner of the bike tower's lease with the hotel owner expired. The plot belonging to the hotel owner could be used for the bike tower until the end of March, according to a statement from the town hall.

In Hradec, since 2015, people can also use a bike tower with 118 spaces for bikes on Brněnská street near a shopping center. Another one began operating in Trutnov in the Hradec Králové Region last summer, and there are plans to build another one in Jaroměř at the new bus station near the train station. According to Bernart, approximately 15 bike parking towers are operating in the Czech Republic, with another eight in preparation.