Skloexport is the name of a massive building in Liberec near the train station, at the corner of Žitavská and 1. máje streets. It was built between 1927 and 1930 to a design by Prague architect František Vahala and originally served mainly state offices. It has two underground and five above-ground floors, and its wings enclose a square courtyard covered by a glass roof. A paternoster lift has been preserved inside.[1]
The ground floor housed a post office, a customs office, warehouses and shops, the upper floors belonged to various offices, and the third floor housed the district administration. During World War II, German financial offices operated in the building; from 1949 it was used by the Regional National Committee of the Liberec Region. After its abolition in 1960, the building was taken over by the Skloexport company, which renovated it, and the building has been known by its name ever since. The company went bankrupt 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.[1]
At the beginning of October 2026, the Liberec Region announced that it would acquire the building in exchange for the integrated emergency response centre in Turnov, together with the tax office building in Jilemnice and the land of the Na Výpřeži car park on Ještěd. According to Governor Martin Půta, the Region should acquire the properties without conditions restricting their use. The Region plans to use the building for itself and its organisations, possibly for officials of the city or state organisations. The ground floor is to house a space for promoting and selling glass and jewellery products from Křišťálové údolí, as well as for tourism promotion. The estimated cost of the major reconstruction exceeds half a billion Czech crowns.[2]
Chronology
- — In exchange for the completed integrated emergency response centre in Turnov, the Liberec Region is to acquire the building of the former Skloexport in Liberec and other properties. Liberecká Drbna Deník: Liberecký kraj
Sources
- Deník: Liberecký kraj — 1 October 2026
- Liberecká Drbna — 1 October 2026