Hamster criticizes the magistrate for the demolition at Wenceslas Square

Brno/Praha - The Deputy Public Defender of Rights Stanislav Křeček criticizes the Department of Culture and Heritage Protection of the Prague City Hall for allowing the demolition of buildings at the corner of Wenceslas Square and Opletalova Street in 2010. According to the Deputy Ombudsman, the officials committed "serious procedural errors". He points out that they did not respect the so-called duality of heritage protection and additionally failed to properly address the objections to the demolition. Křeček made this statement to ČTK today.
    The Administrative Code, which officials are required to follow, states that if construction changes are planned in a heritage-protected area, the heritage departments of city halls must request an opinion from the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ). If the representatives of the Department of Culture and Heritage disagree with its conclusions, they must "properly justify their stance".
    "The Ombudsman essentially confirmed the same position as the Ministry of Culture at that time, which stated that the preliminary consent was contrary to the law. On the other hand, this does not mean that Kozák's house is finished; it still lies within the heritage reserve...," responded the opponent of the demolition of Kozák's house, director of the Civic Monitoring association Vítězslav Praks.
    NPÚ found the demolition of the building located in the heritage reserve, which is part of the area inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, to be completely excluded, Křeček reminded. Therefore, if the city hall held a contradictory opinion and agreed to the demolition, it should have provided the reasons for its decision, the sources upon which it based its assessment of the demolition request, and the considerations that guided it.
    "However, the city hall, in the justification of its binding opinion, merely stated that it did not consider the NPÚ's statement to be professionally substantiated and justified," added the Deputy Ombudsman. According to him, with its decision, the Department of Culture and Heritage Protection of the city hall denied the very purpose of the existence of the NPÚ as a purely professional state institution.
    Although the Ministry of Culture rectified the flawed procedure of the city hall by canceling its decision in review proceedings, then-Minister of Culture Jiří Besser subsequently annulled the Ministry's decision in the appeal proceedings and halted the review process. The professional public unsuccessfully urged the minister to reopen the proceedings to annul the city hall's binding opinion, and the opponents of the demolition were also unsuccessful at the Constitutional Court, Křeček added.
    The last option for the opponents of the demolition was the attempt to declare one of the buildings, which was to be completely demolished, a cultural monument. In December 2012, then-Minister of Culture Alena Hanáková complied with their request and initiated proceedings to declare the building a cultural monument. Based on a preliminary measure, the building was to enjoy heritage protection until the proceedings were completed. However, in July, the minister halted the proceedings. Therefore, the final decision remains the original procedurally and substantively flawed opinion of the city hall, Křeček pointed out.
    The owner of the property can now request a demolition permit. After the demolition, he intends to construct a modern administrative building. There have been heated debates around the controversial project for several months. A portion of the professional and lay public rejects the demolition. However, the developer defends itself by stating that it wants to build quality architecture and overall enhance the area of Wenceslas Square.