In Karlovy Vary, a referendum is being prepared about the Hot Spring Colonnade

Karlovy Vary - A referendum is being prepared by Karlovy Vary activists to advocate for the restoration of the Spring Colonnade to the form given to it by architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. So far, the organizers are collecting signatures, said their representative Ota Řezanka at today's council meeting.

"Currently we have over 2500 signatures, we need about 1400 more, so we expect to combine the referendum with the parliamentary elections, which will take place in October. Another possible date is the presidential elections in January 2018," Řezanka stated.

To hold a referendum, it is necessary to collect signatures from ten percent of voters. According to Mayor Petr Kulhánek (KOA), the city leadership will only announce a referendum if the organizers provide the required number of signatures.

"I still stand by my opinion that the cast iron variant could be one of the options submitted to the public architectural competition for the development of the entire area. A fully equivalent option, which will be assessed the same as all the others," Kulhánek noted.

The current Spring Colonnade from the 1970s is in a state of disrepair. Aggressive mineral water has damaged both the facilities for tapping the spring water and the metal structure of the hall where the characteristic spring of water used to gush. This spring has been relocated to the space in front of the colonnade since this year.

The city aims to begin transferring the technology from the underground under the colonnade to the area in front of it this year. Then it plans to renovate the colonnade itself. At the same time, preparations are underway for the assignment of an architectural competition to address the entire area around the Spring Colonnade.