Vilu Čerych will leave the long-time operator, and the use is to be preserved

Česká Skalice – Villa Čerych in Česká Skalici in the Náchod region should continue to serve as an educational, cultural, and outreach center even after a change of operator or under new ownership. The current operator of the villa, the non-profit organization Centrum rozvoje Česká Skalice, will end its activities in the building on November 30th. Centro spokesman and the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society (NROS), which owns the villa, informed ČTK.

The foundation is currently looking for a new operator, and is also considering selling the property or transferring it to another foundation. NROS received the building with its adjacent garden as a gift from the Čerych brothers in 2001, when the property was returned to them in restitution. The development center has operated the villa for the last 15 years.

"We will take care of the villa until we find someone new, certainly until the summer. This place needs investments, repairs, not just in the garden. We've reached a stage where our strength and finances are running out," said Aneta Zvarová from Centrum rozvoje Česká Skalice to ČTK. She estimated the investment needed for the villa and garden at several million crowns.

"We are unable to cover the costs. So far, hundreds of thousands of crowns per year have been invested in the maintenance and restoration of the villa, but now investments in the millions will be needed," Zvarová noted. According to her, the plumbing is failing, the windows need repair, and the building needs to be secured against heat loss, not to mention the leaking pond and other elements in the garden.

The development center has organized exhibitions, seminars, lectures, and concerts in the villa. It also offered accommodation and hosted weddings. "The foundation is either looking for a new tenant or, in the most extreme case, a buyer. Since the administrative process will not be completed sooner than in six months, we are allowed to accept large events until the end of June 2020. However, cultural events or public accommodation will no longer be possible," Zvarová told ČTK.

The development center will continue its activities but without Villa Čerych. The operation of the information center in Česká Skalici will not be affected by these changes.

According to NROS director Jana Vožechová, the usage of the villa should continue to reflect the wishes of Ladislav and Jiří Čerych. "The villa was given to us to become an educational, cultural, and outreach center, and it should remain so in the future," Vožechová told ČTK.

According to her, it is also possible that the center and the foundation will sign a new lease agreement, but under different conditions. "We are not in a hurry to rent or sell; we want to select an entity that will care for the villa in accordance with the mission to which we are committed. The villa will not be sold to anyone who would not continue the legacy of Mr. Čerych," Vožechová stated. She added that the villa is not in a dilapidated condition.

The monumentally protected Villa Čerych, designed in the Art Deco style, was made famous by the film Leaving directed by Václav Havel. Filmmakers shot the film in the villa's garden in the summer of 2010.