Prague Wants to Rent the Historic Old Town Market to Digital Art Gallery

The City of Prague has revealed plans to lease the Old Town Market building—situated between Rytířská and 28. října streets—to Signal Playground, the team behind the annual Signal Festival.

This once-bustling marketplace has been shuttered for several years. Now, the city aims to repurpose it into a digital art center featuring a permanent gallery. However, city councilors, who reviewed the proposal, postponed their final decision, citing unresolved details around the rental fee.

In previous discussions, Prague’s city administration considered renovating the building for approximately 500 million CZK, yet this ambitious restoration plan was ultimately scrapped due to budget constraints.

The proposed lease would run for 3.5 years, serving as a provisional step while the city develops a longer-term vision for the historic site.

Documents presented to councilors detail Signal Playground’s planned investment: 12.4 million CZK for interior renovations and 17.8 million CZK for technical enhancements.

The group’s stated goal is to establish “Signal Space” as Prague’s premier digital art gallery, drawing on its extensive experience organizing the popular Signal Festival.

The decision to greenlight the lease was delayed as financial discussions remain unsettled. According to Finance Councilor Zdeněk Kovářík (ODS), a consensus among city departments on the rental pricing formula has not yet been reached. The suggested rent rate of 1.2 million CZK per year still lacks unified support from municipal officials.

The Old Town Market, a listed historical building dating to the late 19th century, has remained closed since early 2020, when the municipality initially planned a substantial reconstruction effort.

Built between 1894 and 1897 by architect Jindřich Fialka, who drew inspiration from Parisian market architecture, the Old Town Market once represented the spirit of bustling city life. Similar historical market halls continue to thrive in other European cities, including Barcelona, Dresden, Budapest, and Berlin.

The city council is expected to revisit the lease proposal at a forthcoming meeting.

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