The police want to sue the chimney repairman of the cottage due to the fire in Libušín

Vsetín - The police have concluded the investigation into the fire at the Libušín lodge in Pustevny that occurred two years ago. They are submitting the case file to the state prosecution with a proposal for charging, said Vladislav Malcharczik, spokesperson for the Vsetín police, to ČTK today. A fifty-year-old man from the Karviná region is expected to stand trial, who, according to investigators, neglected the repair of the chimney of this cultural monument in 2007. The man faces up to eight years in prison for general endangerment due to negligence.

The Libušín lodge, functioning as a restaurant, burned down on the night of March 2 to 3, 2014. "Investigators found that the fire was not started intentionally and also that the cause of the fire was not a fault in the electrical installation. Further information led the police investigator to charge the fifty-year-old man from Karviná with the crime of general endangerment," stated Malcharczik. Investigators determined the site of the fire to be the chimney body.

The accused was involved in its repair and was responsible, according to Malcharczik, for carrying out this work. The damage caused by the fire was initially estimated at over 50 million crowns. According to a contract recently concluded by the Wallachian Museum in Nature in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, which administers the monument, with the contracting company Archatt, the restoration of the monument will cost nearly 80 million crowns.

The original lodge was built in 1899 according to a design by architect Dušan Jurkovič. The interior of Libušín was adorned with frescoes depicting Wallachian and Slovak legends based on designs by Mikoláš Aleš. Unique were three Art Nouveau chandeliers, a sideboard, a greenhouse, and a clock. The furnishings included one hundred carved chairs.

The restoration of Libušín is set to begin in June, and the lodge is expected to stand again within three years. Some parts of the original building will be used for the new one. The construction will occur in three phases. After dismantling the remains of the lodge, marking, and assessing the condition, the foundation platform will be secured. The second phase will involve creating a replica of the original timber construction, including the roofs and shingles. The third phase will involve completing the building, including artistic and craft details and technical installations.

This year, the remains of Libušín should be dismantled, and in the fall, the harvesting of selected wood, which must come from a certain altitude, will begin; the trees must be felled in the winter season. Construction of the new building is expected to start in the spring of next year. Several dozen people will work on the restoration of the monument. Archatt has previously worked on the restoration of roofs and facades at Prague Castle and sections of facades at the National Theatre.