Prague will announce a new tender for the completion of the Industrial Palace

Prague - The Prague City Council will announce a new tender for the reconstruction of the fire-damaged wing of the Industrial Palace at the Exhibition Grounds. The original tender was canceled today by the Prague councilors. The Mayor's deputy Pavel Vyhnánek (Prague Himself) told ČTK on Friday that the restoration of the fire-damaged wing of the palace would not be delayed by the new process. The project plans to construct a replica and create new facilities or technical spaces. The left wing was burned down in 2008. The palace was built in 1891.

According to Vyhnánek, the previous city leadership under former mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) announced the tender without having the project documentation available. It was only completed this summer. "They initiated a public contract a year earlier than the project was known. This procedure is quite unusual. I believe it was to create the impression that the repairs had started before the elections," Vyhnánek said. Construction companies were thus applying for a process whose conditions were not clearly defined. Companies sent the city so-called statements of preliminary interest, for which they had one month. Subsequently, the pool of applicants was closed. No one else could now apply for the tender. The city will not cause damage to the firms with its current decision. A phone call or sending an email to the city is enough to express preliminary interest.

Moreover, according to Vyhnánek, the tender contained several technical errors. Costs are now estimated at 1.8 billion crowns, while the original estimate was 1.2 billion. "The previous estimate did not include a number of items, as the tender was made at a time when the project was not complete," Vyhnánek said. According to the deputy, the original assumption also did not include all information regarding the interiors or the requirements of heritage protectors.

The new tender will be announced by the end of this year and the conditions will be based on the completed project. The repair project preserves the original appearance of the building from 1891. It plans to build additional facilities and technical modifications of the heritage-protected object.

The Industrial Palace was built on the occasion of the Jubilee Provincial Exhibition according to the design of architect Bedřich Munzberger. From the beginning, it served to host exhibitions and other cultural events, even though it was originally supposed to be a temporary structure. From 1952 to 1954, the communist regime decided to change its function, and the main hall of the palace was converted into a social and dance hall. Its name was also changed to the Congress Palace, which was part of the then Park of Culture and Relaxation of Julius Fučík.