People protested against the demolition of the house in Wenceslas Square

Prague - This evening, hundreds of dissatisfied people protested in the city center against the planned demolition of a building at the corner of Wenceslas Square and Opletalova Street in Prague. The protest was organized by the Club for Old Prague. The possibility of demolishing the building, which adjoins the Jalta hotel, was decided by Culture Minister Jiří Besser last week.
     Participants of the peaceful gathering carried banners with slogans such as "no demolition of no. 1601" or "Culture Minister = Minister of Investor Protection". Speakers at the gathering described the building as an important architectural monument.
     The opposition to the demolition and planned reconstruction of the building was voiced by, for example, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Charles University Michal Stehlík, leading art historian Jan Royt, and prominent architect Ladislav Lábus. The president of the Czech committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), Jan Štulc, expressed "concern over the ongoing erosion of significant Prague monuments."
     After less than an hour, people moved from Wenceslas Square to the remains of the former Joint Stock Printing House in Opletalova Street, where they symbolically placed lit candles.
     "The building is situated in a heritage conservation area protected by UNESCO, and should therefore be under the strictest heritage protection. However, as it turns out, in Prague, heritage conservation areas and UNESCO mean nothing," said Richard Biegel, secretary of the Club for Old Prague. He believes that the case opens the door to further demolitions in the future. "I fear that by demolishing this building, the limits of developer mining in the heritage conservation area will be breached," he added.
     According to Biegel, as of today, 10,000 people have joined the protest organized online by the Club for Old Prague.
     The building is part of one of the most significant areas of the Prague heritage conservation area, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, so the decision has sparked a wave of dissent. Former President Václav Havel has also spoken out against it.
     Minister Besser justified his decision by stating that he wanted to respect the recommendations of the departmental appeal commission, which suggested allowing the demolition of the corner building, the courtyard part of the hotel, and the remains of the former Joint Stock Printing House, whose facade will be preserved. The minister's verdict is final and cannot be appealed. The investor must now apply to the building authority of Prague 1 for a demolition permit. It is not yet certain whether they will receive it.
     A new building is planned to be constructed in the coming years. According to the project published in the database for assessing the impact of construction on the environment, the planned new building in the shape of the letter L is to have three underground and nine above-ground floors.
     The investor wants to begin demolition as early as November of this year. The new building should have two underground levels designated for parking, with shops on four floors and offices on the rest. The case has been dragging in the authorities since autumn 2009 when the investor applied to the city council for a binding opinion on the demolition of the buildings and on new construction in their place.
     Demolitions do not spare Wenceslas Square. Three years ago, builders demolished the Diamant department store in its lower part without significant public protest, and a new structure is rising in its place.