Brno is looking for a contractor for the lapidary and facilities at Špilberk

Brno - Brno is looking for a contractor to build, in the coming years, expert facilities and a lapidarium for stone objects at Špilberk Castle for more than 100 million crowns. The mayor of Brno, Petr Vokřál (ANO), said this to reporters today. The majority will be covered by a grant from the European Union. According to Vokřál, the work was supposed to take place in the past, but Brno backed down due to concerns that the work would not be completed on time.

The reconstruction concerns the northern annex of the castle and an unused water tank, which consists of two separate underground spaces. In the past, they served as a reservoir for drinking water. The lapidarium will house stone objects from the collections of the Museum of the City of Brno. Consequently, the space will be accessible to the public.

In the northern annex, conservation workshops will be created, such as a locksmith's workshop, a metalworking workshop, and a workshop for wood, stone, leather, and paper, as well as storage spaces. Surface modifications are planned for the northern and eastern ramparts. Work in the northeastern bastion will involve modifications to the pathways, and a broken fire tank will be created in the northwestern bastion. Hydroisolating certain areas is also necessary to prevent damage from water leaking into the castle buildings.

Brno received a grant for the construction of the lapidarium and workshops in the previous programming period of the European Union. However, since the project was on the verge of feasibility, Brno withdrew from it. "Due to the late start of the entire project, we were concerned about completing it by the end of the programming period. We did not want to take the risk. That is why we are now announcing the entire competition again," added Vokřál. If Brno had implemented the project earlier and missed the deadline, it would likely have had to return part of the grant. However, the ministry has announced the call again, allowing Brno to receive the grant for the project once more.

Špilberk Castle rises above Brno and welcomes more than 100,000 paying visitors each year. Some of its parts are accessible for free. In recent years, the main part of the castle's repairs, which cost over a billion crowns, was completed after 30 years of work.