In exchange for the newly built integrated emergency response center for firefighters, police and the ambulance service in Turnov, the Liberec Region is to receive from the state the building of the former Skloexport company in Liberec, the Tax Office building in Jilemnice, and the land of the Na Výpřeži car park on Ještěd. The planned exchange was reported by the Czech News Agency on 1 October 2026.[1]
The Center in Turnov
The integrated emergency response center complex was built on the edge of the Vesecko industrial zone in Turnov and was ceremonially opened on 3 September 2026. The ambulance service moved into the new premises in mid-September, and from 1 October 2026 professional firefighters and traffic police have also been operating out of the complex.[2] Construction of the three buildings cost nearly CZK 265 million, with most of the costs covered by the region and about CZK 100 million contributed by the Ministry of the Interior, according to Deputy Regional Governor Jiří Ulvr (Mayors for the Liberec Region).[1] Regional Fire Chief Jan Hadrbolec said the region had managed to build a center that \"has no equal not only in the Liberec Region but in the whole of the Czech Republic,\" calling it a direction in which the integrated rescue system could develop in the future.[1]
Exchange for the Skloexport Building
According to sources, the construction of the center in Turnov is meant to open the way for the region to acquire the building of the former Skloexport company near Žitavská and 1. máje streets in Liberec, not far from the train station.[2] The building was constructed between 1927 and 1930 to a design by architect František Vahala and served state offices, with a post office, customs office and shops on the ground floor.[2] During World War II it housed German financial offices; from 1949 it was used by the Regional National Committee of the Liberec Region, and from 1960, after the committee's dissolution, it passed to the Skloexport company, after which the building is still named today.[2] Skloexport ceased to exist in the second half of the 1990s; in 2001 the building passed into state ownership, and the last tenants left the ground floor in 2009.[2]
The Liberec Region plans to use the building for its own needs and those of its organizations, or possibly for municipal or state officials.[1] According to earlier estimates, renovating the building is expected to cost more than half a billion crowns.[2] The ground floor is envisaged to include space for promoting and selling glass and jewelry products from the Křišťálové Údolí (Crystal Valley) and other regional products, as well as for tourism promotion.[1]
Other Properties
The region wants to include the land of the Na Výpřeži car park on Ještěd in the planned concept for the use of the Ještěd Mountain Hotel and transmitter, which it purchased this year from Czech Radiocommunications for CZK 185 million.[1] The town of Jilemnice is interested in the former Tax Office building there.[1] The region is also negotiating to acquire the former hygiene station building within the hospital complex in Česká Lípa.[1] According to Regional Governor Martin Půta (Mayors for the Liberec Region), the region should acquire the properties through an exchange free of conditions that would limit their future use.[1]
Related articles: Liberec, Liberec Region, Skloexport
Chronology
- — The Liberec Region is to receive the former Skloexport building in Liberec and other properties in exchange for the completed integrated emergency-services centre in Turnov. Liberecká Drbna Deník: Liberecký kraj
Sources
- Liberecká Drbna (ČTK) — 1 October 2026
- Deník - Liberecký kraj — 1 October 2026