From the former Plzeň spa, modern Thai spas could emerge

Plzeň - The former city baths, a dilapidated heritage-protected structure and a prominent feature of the central waterfront in Plzeň, could be transformed into modern Thai baths. Plzeň's mayor Martin Zrzavecký (ČSSD) stated at today's Plzeň city council meeting that the Thai ambassador expressed interest during a visit to Plzeň in participating in the city bath project and would supposedly bring Thai investors to Plzeň.

In less than a month, on May 17th, another meeting regarding the reconstruction and renovation of the building near the Plzeň Pilsner brewery will take place at the Thai embassy in Prague. Pierluigi Cardoselli, the managing director of the TWB company that owns the former bath building, will also attend.

Thai ambassador Naronga Sasitorn showed interest in investment opportunities for Thai companies currently active in Europe while in Plzeň. In Italy and Germany, Thai companies have purchased several large department stores and are also interested in investment opportunities in the Czech Republic. He mentioned that there are currently 45 Thais living in Plzeň who work in massage. Five companies provide Thai massages. Given that the neighboring Angelo hotel was recently purchased by the Thai investment company U City, a touristic connection between the baths, hotel, and brewery, which was taken over this month by a Japanese firm, is not ruled out. In the first joint discussion, a proposal for connecting corridors was also raised.

The bath building has been deteriorating for 23 years, and for the last four years, it has housed a paintball field. After years of talks, the city began negotiations with TWB Prague about the use of the devastated structure just under two months ago. "There is a mutual interest in reconstructing the building so that it serves some function, whatever that may be. It currently brings nothing to the city," said Zrzavecký. The city is open to partnerships in the reconstruction project. "We can somehow utilize the huge capacity of approximately 22,000 square meters," he added.

The zoning decision for multifunctional use of the building is still valid. According to ČTK information, the owner of the baths would be open to selling. Cardoselli, who owns more luxurious apartments in Prague, wanted to turn the first-republic baths into apartments, offices, a hotel, restaurant, and wellness center for 300 to 500 million CZK in 2010.

The Plzeň baths were the most modern baths in then-Czechoslovakia when they opened in 1932, designed by Prague architect Bedřich Bendlmayer. The object with two pools was privatized in 1994 to a private individual who went bankrupt. In 2001, it was purchased for ten million crowns by developer Amádeus Real, who owns an adjacent 2.4 hectares of land on which they planned to build a giant shopping center. Both the referendum and the city hall rejected the project, and the developer is now suing the city for 1.85 billion crowns as compensation for damages due to the unrealized project. Amádeus initially negotiated the sale of the baths with the city and the region, who wanted to have a gallery there. Ultimately, the building was bought by TWB.