MK changes his mind and begins to deal with the house on Wenceslas Square

Prague - The Ministry of Culture (MK) has initiated proceedings to declare the building on Wenceslas Square, which is to be demolished, as a cultural monument. This action is taken at the behest of the Art History Society. However, just a month ago, the same proposal was rejected by the office on the grounds that it would be a purposeful declaration and interference in the construction process.
    In a document dated April 12, which informs the owner of the initiation of the proceedings and which is available to ČTK, the ministry writes that the building possesses high artistic, urban, and architectural values, which significantly contribute to the character of one of the most important places in the Prague Monument Reserve, Wenceslas Square.
    The owner of the building is obliged to protect the building from destruction and damage until the proceedings are concluded and to notify the MK of any potential change in ownership. Therefore, they must treat the property as if it had been declared a monument.
    The owner wants to demolish the building at the corner of Wenceslas Square and Opletalova Street and construct a new building in its place and on the adjacent land. The demolition of the building, which is part of the Prague heritage reserve, was allowed by the decision of the municipal heritage department. Although the monument protectors from the MK had found the municipal stance illegal and canceled it six months later, it was too late, as administrative law allows such decisions to be made within two months.
    Therefore, the Appeals Commission of the MK recommended canceling this decision by the ministry's heritage experts, and the then Minister of Culture Jiří Besser did so. His final decision stated that the owner of the building had "uninterruptedly and in good measure consumed the stance of the municipality for more than six months." His investment could allegedly be "seriously disrupted or even completely thwarted" by the ministry's cancellation of the municipal decision.
    Experts protested against the demolition of the house, emphasizing that the Minister of Culture should defend the interests of the state in the area of heritage protection rather than the interests of a private investor.
    Art historians submitted a proposal to the MK in January. In March, Jiří Vajčner, the director of the MK's heritage department, told ČTK that the ministry would not address the proposal because the proceedings to declare the building a cultural monument could not prevent the demolition of the building anyway. He added that the purpose of declaring cultural monuments is to determine their heritage value, not to "regulate actions under construction law".
    However, there is a legal opinion stating that even if the building becomes a monument after the construction proceedings have started, this fact must be dealt with by all concerned parties.

Basic information about the case of the building at the corner of Wenceslas Square and Opletalova Street, regarding its possible declaration as a cultural monument by the Ministry of Culture:

    - The future of the building has been uncertain since autumn 2009 when the investor, who also owns the neighboring Hotel Jalta and the remnants of the printing house on Opletalova Street, requested the municipality for a statement regarding potential demolition and construction of a new multi-functional building. The building itself is not currently protected as a monument, but it is part of the Prague Monument Reserve.
    - The corner building, built in 1880 and which gained its current appearance forty years later, is in good technical condition. However, this is not the case for the neighboring building of the former Prague Joint Stock Printing House. It has been abandoned for many years and lost part of its valuable façade in the style of geometric Art Nouveau since construction work briefly took place there in 2006. The house, built in 1919 and home to, among others, Národní listy, is now just a shell.
    - Prague heritage protectors consented to the demolition and new construction in June 2010, but this step was protested by many experts and laypeople. In early February last year, the Ministry of Culture canceled the decision of the Prague officials, but at the end of May, the then Minister of Culture Jiří Besser (from TOP 09) made a different decision. The owner has apparently still not requested a demolition measure.
    - A petition against the demolition was signed by 14,500 people last year; the Constitutional Court rejected a complaint against Besser's decision this January on procedural grounds. A smaller demonstration against the planned demolition also took place in mid-April this year. Now the Ministry of Culture, under the leadership of Besser's successor Alena Hanáková, has initiated proceedings to declare the building a cultural monument. A month ago, however, the same proposal was rejected by the office on the grounds that it would be a purposeful declaration and interference in the construction process.
    - The building at the corner of Wenceslas Square and Opletalova Street is not the only one in central Prague facing demolition. For example, the future of the neo-Renaissance building at the corner of Revoluční Street by Štefánik Bridge is uncertain. It could give way to a new building meant to complete the missing ends of houses on Revoluční Street. The National Heritage Institute rejected the project, but the heritage protectors from the municipality, who have decision-making authority, granted permission. A decision has also not yet been made regarding the possible demolition of the historic building of the Žižkov freight station.
    - Since March 1985, when the demolition of the valuable station on Těšnov caused an uproar, the center of Prague has lost a number of other buildings.
    * The case of Špačkova's house at Petrské náměstí, which was demolished in 1993 and where an unattractive new building was subsequently erected, caused great discontent.
    * Demolitions have also occurred on Wenceslas Square, where builders tore down the Diamond department store in its lower part four years ago without significant public protest, and a new building is rising in its place.
    * In the broader center of Prague, buildings from the former Ringhoffer factories in Smíchov have disappeared, replaced by a shopping center.
    - Resistance from parts of the public has also been raised against other construction interventions, not just the demolition of historic buildings. For example, the reconstruction of the barracks at Republic Square, which retained only the façade behind which the Palladium shopping center was built in 2007, met with disapproval. A similar fate, that is, retaining essentially only the façade, befell the House at Myšák in Vodičkova Street, but that case did not evoke much emotion.