Possible modifications of the former Stalin monument at Letná face criticism

Prague - The leadership of the Prague City Hall has "brushed off" a six-year-old study on modifications to the base of the former monument to Stalin in Letná, where a moving statue known as the Metronome now stands. A gallery is to be created in the underground spaces of the base. The City Hall is facing criticism from the mayor of Prague 7, Jan Čižinský, other municipal politicians, and the Greens. As Čižinský said today to reporters, he finds it unacceptable for such modifications to be made without broad public discussion and an architectural competition. Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) stated that she would like to present the intention to the council before the elections. She rejects the criticism, arguing that the investment is necessary.

The intention was highlighted on Tuesday by the E15 newspaper. “It all seems like the ANO movement is trying to, at the last minute, build a monument to the mayor,” Čižinský said today. “The era when someone decided something and enforced it somewhere regardless of the people living there is hopefully over,” added Prague 7 councilor Lenka Burgerová. Burgerová, Čižinský, and other politicians from Prague 7 are running for the city council in the fall under the banner of the association Prague Sobě.

The deputy mayor of Prague 7 and the Greens' candidate for mayor, Ondřej Mirovský, also disagrees with the proposal. The opinion of the city district leadership is generally that the use of Letná parks should remain the same as before and that larger constructions should not be built there. Nevertheless, Čižinský added that investment will have to be made into the former monument because it is not in good condition. However, not in this way and not a few months before the elections, he added.

According to the draft resolution available to ČTK, the Prague councilors are to decide in the coming weeks on a contract worth nearly 50 million Czech crowns for the preparation of project documentation based on the 2012 study. According to Krnáčová, the National Gallery has already expressed interest in the planned space.

The mayor rejected the criticism, stating that the need to "repair Stalin" is obvious. "It is already essentially in a state of emergency, and therefore that investment is absolutely necessary. I have already discussed this intention with the leadership of the National Gallery, and the director welcomes it. Now I definitely want to discuss it with my colleagues and possibly present it to some of the remaining councils,” she stated. She added that it is nonsense that the proposal should have been presented to the council as early as Tuesday, as Čižinský claimed.

Prague has been addressing how to utilize the space under the former monument to the Soviet dictator since the early 1990s, where there are also extensive underground spaces. Ideas have included the creation of a totalitarian museum, a café, or an oceanarium. However, all these ideas have remained in the stage of contemplation. Since 1991, a 25-meter-high moving statue known as the Metronome has dominated the area.