The house on Opletalova Street was leveled to the ground

There is now no danger.

Prague - Most of the building in Opletalova Street in Prague has already been leveled to the ground, finishing work will take a few more days. Traffic in the street was stopped this morning for about three hours due to the danger of falling debris. According to František Polák, spokesperson for Metrostav, which is carrying out the demolition of the former printing house, the operation was very risky.
    From the building, whose demolition was ordered on Friday by the construction department of Prague 1 due to its emergency condition, only a small part of the front wall remains to a height of one floor, and about a quarter of the back wall leading into the courtyard remained this afternoon. Polák told ČTK that they still have to carefully remove the part of the structure that adjoins the building at the corner of Wenceslas Square. A special excavator with giant scissors is working on site, while curious onlookers gather on the opposite sidewalk.
    "There is now no danger," stated Polák. The blockage of half of the roadway is said to be due to dampening noise and dust from the construction. Just on Saturday, when workers were demolishing the highest parts of the structure, pieces of walls fell onto the opposite sidewalk.
    Polák pointed out that the building was in an emergency condition, and the wall leading to the street was shaking entirely during the demolition. "It would not have survived another winter," he added. The last above-ground parts of the structure should disappear on Monday, and debris will be removed in the following days.
    The owner of the building is the company Flow East, which also owns the neighboring building at the corner of Opletalova Street and Wenceslas Square. The investor wants to build a new structure on the site of this building, where the former printing house is located, and on the land in the courtyard. Some architects and preservationists have previously opposed the demolition of the corner building, and the public has also protested against it. The investor aims to obtain all necessary permits by the end of this year, after which demolition and subsequent construction would begin.
    The remnants of the printing house, like the corner building, are not a cultural monument; the printing house was, however, until 2008 when the then-owner requested the removal of its protection after a large part of the building was demolished. The Ministry of Culture complied with the request as there was nothing left to protect; today only the land is under heritage protection.
    The printing house building has been abandoned for many years and since 2006, when construction work was briefly carried out there, it has also lost part of its facade. The building, which was constructed in 1919 and housed, for example, the Národní listy, is now in ruins. In the 1990s, plans were made to preserve not only the architecturally valuable facade but also the unique marble staircase and vaults; however, the property later changed owners, and their plans for the building also changed.