KMV in Kyselce will restore two buildings, ASORKD also wants Elizabeth's pavilion

photo: Lukáš Podhorský

Karlovy Vary - The company Karlovarské minerální vody (KMV), which owns part of the buildings in the former Kyselka spa, wants to start the renovation of two buildings this year. The Stallburg house and Löschner pavilion are to be restored for approximately 60 million crowns. The documents for the building permit are currently being reviewed by officials from the Karlovy Vary magistrate and the heritage institute in Loket. The Association for the Protection and Development of Cultural Heritage (ASORKD) announced today that it demands the restoration of the Elizabeth pavilion as well.
    The restoration of Stallburg and the Löschner pavilion should not be a problem, as the procedures related to zoning decisions, project preparation, and addressing comments are proceeding according to legally prescribed deadlines, Miroslav Perout from the National Heritage Institute in Loket told ČTK. KMV should soon receive an opinion from the Karlovy Vary magistrate, said its spokesperson Jan Kopál. However, it is still unclear how to proceed in the case of the Elizabeth pavilion, which was dismantled in 1997 with the consent of heritage officials.
    The consent of the heritage officials was conditioned by the fact that the pavilion, which gave way to the construction of a new bottling plant, must be built in another location. However, this did not happen. Therefore, ASORKD called on the Karlovy Vary magistrate on Thursday to require the fulfillment of a 15-year-old decision from the Ministry of Culture. According to statements from KMV, the dismantled pavilion was handed over to the municipality. Its mayor, Petra Hoffmannová, stated that Kyselka never took over the pavilion. The loss of the pavilion was acknowledged on Czech Television by KMV's General Director Alessandro Pasquale.
    According to Pasquale, the pavilion likely got lost during the demolition of the building in which it was temporarily stored. KMV denies responsibility for the disappearance of the pavilion, stating that the municipality did not take it over. The company has not yet commented on the current demand for the restoration of the pavilion raised by ASORKD. The association demands that the owner be compelled to locate the cultural landmark and rebuild it in the designated location. "If KMV does not know where this valuable landmark is, they should be compelled to construct an exact replica of it at the designated site," added ASORKD vice president Martin Kadrman.
    In February of this year, the magistrate imposed a fine of 1.8 million crowns on KMV for poor care of protected landmarks in the Kyselka spa, and the Regional Office of the Karlovy Vary Region confirmed this decision. KMV was fined due to three separate buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The company, which is defending itself against the penalty through legal means, claimed that it disrupted the urbanistic value of the spa complex in Kyselka. Until an agreement is reached on the reconstruction of the buildings in its ownership, KMV plans to carry out only necessary repairs and maintenance.