Knížák comes up with the idea of converting the KC into a library

Prague - The General Director of the National Gallery in Prague (NG) Milan Knížák believes that the Congress Center building in Prague would serve better as a new National Library than the proposed building by Kaplický in Letná. Knížák stated in an interview on Radio Frekvence 1 on Tuesday that he is preparing talks with representatives from the Ministry of Culture, the National Library, and the Prague City Hall on this topic in the coming days. However, no similar meeting is apparently set to take place yet.
    "I’m afraid there has been some minor misunderstanding,” said NG spokesman Tomáš Krejča today to ČTK. According to him, Knížák only revealed his new idea in the interview, which he has not yet consulted with anyone. "It was his first thought; he hasn’t talked about it anywhere else yet," Krejča stated, thus he had no information about any possible negotiations with the ministry and the library.
    "We are not aware of anything like that; Mr. Knížák has not yet informed us about his similar plans," said the Ministry of Culture spokesman Jan Cieslar to ČTK today.
    In the Tuesday interview, Knížák indicated that Kaplický's building in Letná should not be constructed since Prague has a facility that could excellently serve as a library after renovation. This facility is the former Palace of Culture, which Knížák described as a "frightful, disgusting building" that "looks a bit like a giant cowpat."
    The Prague City Hall does not yet have information about Knížák's idea either. According to Deputy Mayor Pavel Klega (ODS), the proposal to place the National Library in the Congress Center would also need to come from the library itself. "I have not heard that kind of proposal from the library yet," Klega told ČTK.
    The capital city envisions that the palace will continue to serve for congress tourism. It is already clear that it will be one of the venues for some informal meetings of ministers from the 27 member states during the Czech presidency in the EU in the first half of next year.
    According to Klega, however, the use of the facility as both a congress center and a library is not excluded. It would require an assessment by experts to determine if the facility could serve both the library and the congress center, he added.
    The National Library (NK) has long been in dispute with the Prague City Hall over who should decide about a new library building in Letná. According to NK, the decision should be made by the Ministry of Culture and the Prague City Hall; on the contrary, the City Hall believes that the Office for the Protection of Economic Competition (ÚOHS) should decide first. A significant opponent of Kaplický's proposal is President Václav Klaus.