Pražská tržnice is the largest market in Prague. The site was built for the Central Slaughterhouse of the Royal City, which was located here from 1895 to 1983. Afterwards a retail market replaced the slaughter of meat. According to the municipal district of Prague 7, the site is 1.5 times larger in area than Prague Castle.[1]
History and heritage protection
In 1993 the whole area was declared a cultural monument. A year later the city leased the market to the company Delta Center, which, according to the source text, stopped paying the regular rent; the city therefore gave it notice, the validity of which was later upheld. After a rejected consideration of demolishing the site, a basic development plan by the architectural studio SGL was produced in 2014. Already in 2011 the office CMC architects had prepared a study for Delta Center, which envisaged a modern shopping gallery with boutiques, farm shops, restaurants and a hotel.[1]
Plan for the transformation
On the 125th anniversary of the site, Prague City Hall presented a vision under which a place combining retail, services, culture, creative industries and gastronomy for all age and income groups, used by Prague residents and tourists alike, is to emerge over twenty years. It is based on an urban-architectural study by the office CMC architects and a verifying economic study by a consortium of the firms JLL and 4ct, produced in cooperation with the Prague Institute of Planning and Development. The studies set out basic principles, such as entrances, movement of people, greenery and traffic solutions, rather than the complete form of the site.[1]
The costs of the transformation are estimated at 2 to 3 billion crowns over twenty years, and financial sustainability was one of the city's requirements. Pavel Vyhnánek, deputy mayor for budget and finance, stated that a rapid procedure is important because of the worsening condition of the buildings, rising reconstruction costs and the threat that the city might in future sell or lease the site to a private investor and lose control over it.[1]