Repair of the Letná Water Tower for 34 million will begin in the fall

Prague - Preparatory work for the reconstruction of the Letná water tower will begin in the fall. The renovation of the monument-protected building is expected to take more than a year, as stated in the public procurement bulletin. Prague 7 recently awarded a contract worth 34 million crowns excluding VAT. According to city hall spokesperson Martin Vokuš, the facility will primarily serve for leisure activities for children and youth.
    As part of the reconstruction, the city hall will arrange for the repair of the entire building, including the facade, utilities, heating, sewage, and ventilation systems. Significant changes will also affect the interior spaces. The surrounding land will undergo landscaping and new fencing. The historical pump, which is part of the site, will also be renovated. "It is still impossible to estimate when the work will be completed," said the spokesperson.
    The water tower will continue to serve the children's and youth center. "As part of the preparatory phase of the reconstruction, we also gave citizens the opportunity to express how they would most like to see the water tower and surrounding land used," Vokuš previously stated. The vast majority of people wanted sports and leisure programs and club activities to continue there, according to him.
   "Prague 7 would also like to open the tower even more to the public after the reconstruction and make it a popular and frequently visited place for a wide range of various activities," added the spokesperson. The tea house will remain on the fourth floor, and a gallery will be created on the floor above, according to the published information.
    According to Vokuš, the Neo-Renaissance water tower was completed in 1888 based on the design of architect Jindřich Fialka. The construction was carried out by the firm of Karel Hübschmann and František Schlaffer. The tower was part of the waterworks complex that supplied water to the upper parts of Holešovice and Bubeneč. It was taken out of water supply operation in 1913. Apartments for waterworks employees were subsequently built into its levels. Later, part of the tower was used as storerooms. In the 1970s, an underground four-chamber cylindrical water reservoir and pumping station were demolished. The tower has been monument-protected since 1992.