Returning the thermal baths to the city "in their full glory after over a decade of lying in waste" has been a priority of the city's leaders since entering office in 2019, they said.Continue reading
Budapest’s landmark Rac Baths and the adjoining hotel are now the property of Budapest Gyógyfürdői es Hévizei (BGYH) Zrt. and they are slated to open next year, the Budapest mayor’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
Renovation work will have to be carried out and the pace of this work will depend on the financial situation of the capital, though it is possible EU funds may be tapped for the purpose, according to the city’s deputy mayor Erzsébet Gy. Németh, who added that hopefully the baths would be opened no later than the end of next year.
She accused the former mayor, István Tarlós, of preventing the newly renovated baths from being opened in 2010, saying this had been a “big mistake”.
In the meantime, the properties have fallen into disrepair and will have to be newly renovated, she said.
BGYH wants to start sprucing up the spa as soon as possible, while the fate of the hotel will be decided by the Metropolitan Assembly.
BGYH was the only bidder to purchase the baths and hotel, and it purchased the 3,333sqm baths and 2,070sqm 67-room hotel at the starting price of 5 billion forints (EUR 14m). BGYH purchased the baths at the end of May and the purchase agreement was signed in the first week of August.
Featured photo illustration by Csaba Jászai/MTVA