The Liebieg Palace in Liberec is changing, for example, the orangery into a café and the bathroom into a classroom

Liberec - The former orangery will become a café and the spacious bathroom a computer classroom. Such transformations are in store for the monumentally protected Liebieg Palace in Liberec, which has been undergoing reconstruction for more than a year and a half at a cost of approximately 264 million crowns. Construction work is expected to be completed by the end of October, after which the building will still need to be outfitted. The palace, now designated as a community center, is set to serve a new purpose in the spring of next year. Journalists were informed today about the progress of the work by technical specialist Jan Lajksner from the Liberec City Hall. The building belongs to the city.

"We have completed the rough construction work, the replacement of ceiling structures, wall repairs, cellar repairs, and now we are in the final stages where the surfaces are being adjusted, floor layers are being laid, and the artistic crafts have started. That includes graining wooden structures, carpentry repairs of window reveals, shutters, repairs of marble sills, and repairs of gilded grilles," Lajksner stated. Some work is being done on-site, while some is done in workshops, which he says is challenging to coordinate. "Only the doors are made by three carpenters," he added.

The reconstruction of the vast building, which industrialist Johann Liebieg Jr. had constructed as a family residence between 1870 and 1872, has not developed according to the prepared plan from the very beginning. The significantly worse condition of the building than the town hall had anticipated was to blame. This primarily concerned the wooden structures, which were infested with wood rot. Its spread was aided by the fact that the vast building had been empty since the relocation of the Regional Gallery at the end of 2014. According to the technical specialist, there were also other pitfalls encountered later. "It’s always about thinking ahead. You never have certainty about how it will behave exactly. It’s an old house with many surprises, and you must react to them," Lajksner noted.

One surprise, according to him, was the ceilings on the ground floor, which looked the same on the outside. "In one room, there is a graining on the plaster and stucco, meaning a coating that pretends to be wood. And next to it are actual wooden beams, which have been painted white to disguise the fact that they are wood," he explained. The discovery of a painted strip with Greek motifs in the former bathroom of the Liebiegs—now the size of an average room—was also unexpected. Craftsmen found it while doing the electrical installation. The space will serve as a computer classroom, and the discovery of the painting will not change that. "When it appeared, complicated wiring for computers had already been laid out," Lajksner indicated. However, the painted strip will remind of the original use of this place, as the restorer repaired it. The former orangery, which was bricked up and divided into floors after renovations, will also better correspond to its original appearance. Craftsmen have removed those floors, and instead of bricks, there are now stained glass windows. This place will newly serve as a café with a view of the garden.

After the reconstruction, the palace will become a meeting place for people, from children to seniors and various social groups. The city initially planned to pay 208 million crowns for the renovation, but now expects costs of 264 million. Most of the expenses will be covered by European grants. "Our application is still under evaluation. At this moment, I believe we will not miss out on the grant, but the question is how much it will be," said Deputy Mayor Radka Loučková Kotasová (ANO) to journalists today. She hopes the city will receive 220 million. The increase in costs is due to the worse condition of the building compared to expectations. The current situation in the construction market, with rising material prices and a shortage of Ukrainian workers, has no impact on the progress of the reconstruction. According to Lajksner, this is also because the rough work is already completed. "Now we are entering a phase that is more about crafts, which are on the border of artistic craftsmanship, and that is not the domain of regular construction workers. There is a greater share of more specialized work here, so we have not been affected by that so far," he added.