The completion of the wing of the Industrial Palace will cost 2.64 billion CZK

Prague – The burned wing of the Prague Industrial Palace will be completed for the city by the consortium Society for the Industrial Palace led by Metrostav. The cost of the completion is approximately 2.64 billion crowns. In addition to completing the burned wing, the consortium will reconstruct the second wing and the central section. Work is set to begin this year and should be completed by 2024. The selection of the contractor was approved today by Prague city councillors. The winning consortium consists of companies Metrostav-DIZ, Avers, and Syner. The palace wing burned down in 2008. Its completion has been long plagued by difficulties.

"Now we must wait for a 15-day period for any objections, then I hope we will proceed to sign the contract. I anticipate the start of reconstruction by the end of this year. Not only trade fairs will be held here, but also concerts, and the Exhibition Grounds will become a cultural center," said Deputy Mayor Pavel Vyhnánek (Prague for Us).

The selected company will build a replica of the burned wing, which will be equipped with modern technologies inside. It will use heat pumps with 70 deep boreholes with an average depth of 140 meters for heating. The palace will be equipped with air conditioning and shading technology. A new massive basement will be created under the left wing, which will house the facilities for preparing exhibitions.

If no complications arise, the construction will take 30 months. "We will erect a replica of the left wing, which will be enriched with a new basement that will serve as facilities, and we will completely reconstruct the central hall and the right wing," said Vyhnánek.

The completion and reconstruction of the palace will be financed by the capital city from its budget from 2021 to 2024. This year, the city should pay 15 million crowns, 1.05 billion in the next year, and the same in 2023. In 2024, the city should spend 522.6 million crowns. The exact amounts will depend, according to Vyhnánek, on when the city starts construction. "Everything will depend on when we start the construction," he added.

Originally, the capital city expected a maximum price about 9.5 percent lower when it announced the tender at the end of last year. The difference, according to the documentation, is due to the recent increase in construction work and material costs.

The restoration of the palace has been fraught with long-term problems. The city, among other things, has been in court over money from the insurance following the burning of the wing. Prague councilors decided in 2018 to announce the tender. However, the current city administration canceled the tender in October 2019, as it was announced before the project was completed and therefore without detailed knowledge of what the construction would entail. The announcement of the tender was thus delayed again.

The Industrial Palace was built for the Jubilee Land Exhibition in 1891 according to the design of architect Bedřich Munzberger. From the beginning, it served to host exhibitions and other cultural events, although it was originally intended to be a temporary structure. Between 1952 and 1954, the communist regime decided to change its function and had the main hall of the palace reconstructed 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 Leisure of Julius Fučík.