City plans renovation of Old Town Market

Prague City Hall is looking into the renovation of the Old Town Market (Staroměstska tržnice), located between the streets 28. října a Rytířská. The project should cost some Kč 250 million to Kč 300 million.

The city expects to select a contractor for the renovation and an operator by this summer. The main part of the work should be completed next year, and it should open to the public in 2021.

City Councilor Jan Chabr (United Force for Prague / TOP 09) says the plan is inspired by similar markets in other major cities.

“It might look a bit like Covent Garden in London or Chelsea Market in New York,” Chabr said, adding that the city was unhappy with the current state of the market.

The space will have cultural activities in addition to vendors. The project can use some of the planning from the previous City Hall administration, which also wanted to renovate the space.

This is in addition to a separate Kč 100 million plan to renovate the Prague Market (Pražská tržnice) in Holešovice, which should begin in March with the clearing out of the outdoor stalls.

The city wants to final form of the project at the Old Twon Market to be planned in conjunction with the selected operator. Chabr said the optimal situation would be for an operator to run the entire space and pay rent to the city. A second option is that the city company Trade Centre Praha would run the market.

Leases for current tenants should be terminated by the end of the year.

Ondřej Kobza, the person behind pianos on the street and the owner of Café V lese, has expressed interest in the project, according to news server Novinky.cz. Kobza and Gabor Bindics worked on the renovation of the Bratislava Marketplace.

He wants to have a flexible space for a variety of uses that change on a constant basis.

The neo-Renaissance style Old Town Market was built between 1894 and ’96, and the architect was Jindřich Fialka. It has a cast iron structure and glass ceiling, with mosaics and other decorative elements visible inside.

A plaque on the entrance says the market is on the site of the birthplace of Alois Senefelder, born in 1771. He was an actor, writer and lawyer who invented lithography as a way to save on printing costs.