Prague plans to launch a competition for the future use of the Old Town Market Hall

Prague is planning to launch a competition to determine the future use of the Old Town Market between Rytířská and 28 October Streets, which has been closed for over four years, according to Adam Zábranský (Pirates), the city councillor for property. The city planned to renovate the building at a cost of about CZK half a billion in the last term of office, but the high costs made it impossible. Zábranský said the aim of the so-called competitive dialogue will now be to find a suitable solution in cooperation with potential bidders for the operation of the market.

The municipality had the listed building from the end of the 19th century closed at the beginning of 2020 for the upcoming reconstruction, which it then tendered for CZK 429.9 million excluding VAT. The price and the form of the tender were criticised by the Pirates, for example, and the city administration did not approve the award of the contract. Since then, the area has been closed to the public.

According to Zábranský, a working group with representatives of the municipality, Prague 1, the reconstruction designers and the city's Institute of Planning and Development has been set up to change that. The aim is to launch a so-called competitive dialogue, which will allow the city to gradually fine-tune ideas with potential operators about the future function of the building, the economic model of its operation and, above all, the financing of the reconstruction, in which the city wants to achieve the co-participation of the operator.

According to the councillor, the estimated cost of the repairs is now between CZK 600 and 700 million. According to Zábranský, the advantage of the competitive dialogue is that, compared to the previous procedure, it also involves those interested in operating the market directly in the design of the solution, so it offers a clearer idea of the building's usability and market potential. "The way Prague has tried in the past, by doing reconstruction and then looking for an operator, does not seem to us to be the most appropriate," the councillor said.

He added that, according to current ideas, the city could start a competitive dialogue at the beginning of the second half of this year and it would take about a year. First, a plan for the use, reconstruction and economic operation of the market would be drawn up in cooperation with the bidders and finally an operator would be selected.

The market was built between 1894 and 1897 to a design by the architect Jindřich Fialka, who was mainly inspired by Paris. The original appearance was significantly disturbed by insensitive constructions during the previous regime. Similarly designed markets exist in Barcelona, Dresden, Budapest and Berlin.

Source: CTK