The damaged school in Jablonec wants the Liberec Region to repair

Liberec/Jablonec nad Nisou - The Liberec Region wants to repair the building of the Secondary School of Crafts and Services in Jablonec nad Nisou, which was damaged during reconstruction in November. The costs for the remediation and stabilization of the damaged structure are estimated at 97 million crowns excluding VAT, while the demolition of the building and construction of a new one would cost almost double, according to estimates. The building, dating from 1872, is also a heritage site, so it would not be straightforward. This was stated to journalists today by Liberec Governor Martin Půta (Mayors for the Liberec Region). However, according to him, the decision is not yet final.

Construction work revealed serious structural instability issues in the school building in November, causing part of the wall on the first and second floors to collapse. The situation is worsened by heavy wet snow that has burdened the roof. Therefore, the region, which is the investor, agreed to close the road around the school. "It is important to secure the building so that it does not collapse. We have therefore contacted Metrostav, which has experience with similar construction accidents, to find a solution as soon as possible to secure the structure," added the governor's deputy Petr Tulpa (Mayors for the Liberec Region).

The walls collapsed during the renovation of the workshops in the building, where a vocational education center is being established. According to structural expert Hana Gattermayerová, the cause was likely improper work done on the modifications in the building in the 1980s. The contractor was not responsible for the accident, as, according to her, they could not have known about the building's weaknesses, which were all concealed under the plaster. "One of the load-bearing walls, which had already been weakened by building interventions in the past, lost its stability," Gattermayerová described the causes of the collapse. It was a chain reaction, where the weakened wall collapsed and the wall above it, leading to the ceiling collapsing, which then broke the vaults in the basement. This could have happened at any time.

The school principal Martin Kubáč previously told ČTK that he was glad it happened during reconstruction. "I can't imagine something like this happening during operation when there would be students in the building," he said. The school is vacant during reconstruction, the workshops have moved to Železný Brod, and theoretical classes to another building in Jablonec. The work was originally supposed to be completed in May, but it is already clear that this will not be possible. For the construction of the vocational education center costing 80 million crowns, the region received a grant from the Integrated Regional Operational Program (IROP), and is now negotiating an extension of the deadline.