The leadership of the city heard criticism at a public debate regarding the position of Elizabeth's baths

Karlovy Vary - Today, the leadership of Karlovy Vary faced criticism during a public discussion about the future of the Elizabeth Baths. Most participants in the debate were supporters of the current state or employees of the Elizabeth Baths. They accused the city primarily of not investing in the historical building, the last municipal baths in Karlovy Vary, for a long time and allowing it to reach a state where it is deeply in debt and needs repairs costing around one billion crowns.

Today's debate during the Karlovy Vary municipal council meeting was not intended to lead to a decision; representatives of Karlovy Vary presented two basic options for the future of the Elizabeth Baths - to keep the baths in the city’s ownership and continue subsidizing them, or to sell them. The meeting concluded with the council taking note of the discussion.

The Elizabeth Baths are of interest to the Karlovy Vary Hotel Pupp and the Hilton hotel chain. The city currently subsidizes the baths with 20 million crowns annually for operations, and the joint-stock company Elizabeth Baths is already in cumulative debt of 147 million crowns. The loss has already reached the value of the company’s equity. The city owns 100 percent of the shares in the Elizabeth Baths.

"We either keep the Elizabeth Baths, we are able to find five million crowns in savings... And we can also take a loan and perhaps postpone the repair of the Cheb Bridge and use another bridge. Or sell the Elizabeth Baths. The third option, renting, is unrealistic," said Karlovy Vary mayor Andrea Pfeffer Ferklová (ANO) at the beginning of the debate.

Stanislava Maulenová, the professional guarantor of care from the Elizabeth Baths, stated that the city has only invested in window replacements in recent years. "If only the city supported us like other organizations," she lamented.

Deputy Mayor Lubomír Kovář (ANO) stated that if the city invested the entire annual amount that it allocates for investments, about 320 million crowns, it would take four years to invest that much in the Elizabeth Baths to repair them. However, as he added, the operation would likely still be loss-making.

The Hilton hotel chain would like to build a modern hotel next to the Elizabeth Baths while maintaining spa services. The competing offer from the Karlovy Vary Grandhotel Pupp also includes modernization, but it would focus solely on preserving the baths as a service center that could be used not only by Pupp's guests but also by smaller hotels in Karlovy Vary and the public. Both entities plan to purchase the building.

People at today’s debate preferred that the city keep the baths and invest in them, albeit in stages. However, as architect Martin Volný, who focuses on heritage, countered, the Elizabeth Baths will need to be repaired all at once as a whole; it will not work in stages.

Deputy Mayor Miroslav Vaněk (Karlovaráci) stated that it is necessary to evaluate whether the majority of the residents of Karlovy Vary really prefer subsidizing the Elizabeth Baths at the expense of other services that the city provides from its resources.

According to earlier statements by Mayor Pfeffer Ferklová, the councilors could decide on the future of the Elizabeth Baths by the end of this year.