Zlín is searching for a contractor for the construction of a congress center

Zlín - The Zlín City Hall has begun searching for a contractor to construct a multifunctional building for the under-construction Zlín Congress Center. The deadline for submitting bids will end in early April. This was discovered by ČTK in the information system for public procurement. According to Zlín's mayor Irena Ondrová, it should also be decided by this time whether the city will receive financial support for the completion of the complex from European funds.
    The complex of the congress center with a multifunctional building and a restaurant is to create an entirely new area right in the center of the regional city, alongside the neighboring University Center. The university section was completed and opened last year.
    Although the Zlín City Hall began constructing the congress center back in 2006, only its lower part has been completed so far. The costs have so far amounted to about 160 million crowns, mostly from the city budget, with part also as a state grant. However, the construction is now expected to accelerate significantly.
    "The first step, which is the most important, has been approved, and that is the integrated city development plan," Ondrová said today to ČTK. According to her, European funds could indeed be directed specifically towards constructing the multifunctional building of the congress complex. The construction of just the multifunctional building is expected to cost 410 million crowns excluding VAT, but the city aims to cover about 85 percent of the costs with grants from European funds.
    At the end of last year, the city hall, through a second selection process, chose a company to build a restaurant in the congress center. The construction of the building, costing about 45 million crowns from the city budget, was initially supposed to start last year.
    "We agreed with the winner that construction will begin only in spring so that both buildings start as close to each other as possible," the mayor stated. The postponement of the construction work was due to the weather. If the city receives the funds for the construction of the multifunctional part of the congress center, both of its buildings should start to rise this year. The multifunctional part of the complex is expected to be completed in the second half of 2010.
    In the newly opened spaces of the University Center, there is currently a library and the rectorate of the Zlín University. The construction cost nearly 380 million crowns. At the congress center, a multifunctional hall will also be created, and the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic should be located there as well.