Prague 3 wants to start adjustments to Jiřího z Poděbrad Square as soon as possible

Prague - The new leadership of the third district wants to start modifications to Jiřího z Poděbrad Square as soon as possible, which have been planned since the turn of the millennium. According to Mayor Jiří Ptáček (TOP 09), it is first necessary to agree on the nature of the repairs. Therefore, in the first quarter of this year, he wants to hold discussions with local residents and then decide whether the town hall will announce a new architectural competition or start smaller modifications to the square.

Various administrations of Prague 3 have gradually postponed the complete reconstruction of the square since 2002. Local residents and politicians have been unable to agree on its form. The preparation of the reconstruction according to the original project was halted by the municipal assembly's resolution last March. According to the councilors, the project was outdated, too expensive, and would have meant the concreting of green areas.

Now, according to Mayor Ptáček, it is necessary to find a consensus on the nature of the modifications and to start working on the square as soon as possible. "I have taken this as one of my key points so that we can not only initiate an accelerated discussion, that is, to agree on how it should look, but also to realistically start the reconstruction," he stated, adding that the long wait negatively affects the condition of the square.

According to Ptáček, the first phase should be discussions with the authors of the original project and with the residents. "The previous leadership communicated the project poorly to the public. As a little gem, I would say that the visualizations of the square were published only at the moment when the entire proposal was canceled by the assembly. That seems absurd to me," he said.

Based on the discussions, the town hall will decide whether to announce a new competition for the complete reconstruction or to proceed with partial modifications. The mayor would like to decide in the first quarter of this year.

The original project from 2002 included, for example, planting mature linden trees and plane trees in the square and paving the area in front of the church. Unsightly metro entrances were to be improved, pedestrian access enhanced, and the metro vent and fountain were to be removed. There was significant local opposition to the removal of the fountain, which led the town hall to modify the project in 2014. The modifications were expected to cost 75 million crowns, and they were originally to be largely funded by the magistrate.