On Míru Street, there could be a runway dedicated to pilot Kašpar

Pardubice - The Pardubice councilors today discussed the possibility of "painting" a runway on Míru Street with the initials of the first Czech aviator Jan Kašpar and the year when he completed his first flight. The local boulevard will, after a year of repairs, partly become a pedestrian zone. Experts will address the intention to incorporate an unusual monument into the project. This was stated today by the mayor Štěpánka Fraňková (Association for Pardubice).
    "There are a lot of questions we are currently unable to answer. For example, the architect who won the competition needs to express an opinion," the mayor said.
    The City Architect's Department, through its head Pavla Pannová, expressed that the proposal is too "cheap" and does not appeal to them. The mayor's deputy Jiří Rozinek (ČSSD) also noted that the boulevard's renovation is a European project, where it is not possible to change the assignment just like that. "The conditions are very strict; we need to ensure that it won't jeopardize the acceptance of subsidies in the future," Rozinek said.
    The author of the runway proposal, David Macháček, who is a television reporter by profession, considers it a success that the councilors did not immediately reject the idea outright. He also stated that the runway is not meant to compete with the memorial project for the aviator, which could one day stand on Míru Street near the Magnum high-rise building.
    "What bothers me is the fuss surrounding the winning proposal, that the city hasn't thought it through, including the implementation," Macháček said.
    Last year's competition was won by architect Petr Pinkas with a design for a 37-meter high mast with a wind sleeve. After some time, the city hall leadership began to express in the sense that the installation of the pole would likely be difficult and expensive. Local aviators' representatives also opposed the considered form of the memorial. The signers of the petition preferred a realistic bronze statue, which finished in second place.
    "I had absolute sympathy for the winning proposal. I like the symbolism; I do not accept the objections that a wind sock did not exist in Kašpar's time. There was no tarred runway either, just a grassy area," Macháček said.
    According to Macháček, we no longer live in the era of national revival when monuments had to be completely realistically descriptive. So why not build a mast and create a runway. "To pay homage to someone in the third millennium, we can use much more abstract symbolism," added Macháček.
    The takeoff and landing runway would ideally be visible from the Green Gate. The fact that it might be obscured by benches or trees after the repairs, according to Macháček, does not matter at all. "It would deepen the symbolism that it's a monument merged with the city, that it’s a natural part of it," the proposal's author said.
    Kašpar is still commemorated in Pardubice by a memorial with a small airplane in Dukelských Hrdinů Square. In the underpass of the train station, there is a memorial plaque for the 125th anniversary of the aviator's birth, at the site where his hangar and flight school once stood. Interested parties can find another memorial plaque at Bratranců Veverkových Street in house number 645, where Kašpar lived with his sister. Last year, the Jan Kašpar Association also successfully renovated his tomb in the city cemetery with the help of subsidies from the region and the municipal district.
    Politicians have been discussing the statue of Jan Kašpar in Pardubice for a long time. The proposal for a bronze sculpture by sculptor Jaroslav Boecker for almost two million crowns, which was presented in 2007, was shelved by the city hall because it seemed too expensive.