<p>Opinion: The roof of the underground Stalin monument may collapse</p>

Prague - The structure of the underground area of the former Stalin monument in Letná is in poor condition and there is a risk of collapse in some places. It is therefore necessary to temporarily support the roof of the building, which also forms the Letná lookout with the metronome. This is based on a report commissioned by the city hall, which the Czech News Agency (ČTK) has access to. According to councilor for property Jan Chabr (TOP 09), the city is now turning to the building authority of Prague 7, which will decide on the next steps.

A sudden collapse of part of the structure could be caused, according to the report, by "... the accumulation of a greater number of people, the load of snow, or any static or dynamic impulse." The poor condition is due to long-term water infiltration. The report further states that the estimated cost for the temporary support of the ceiling of the underground structure is seven million crowns.

An alternative would be to prevent people from accessing the area of the metronome, which is nonetheless a popular attraction for both locals and tourists, and the city does not want to restrict movement in Letná Park. According to Chabr, it is also not feasible to monitor the area 24 hours a day to prevent anyone from entering.

"We are indeed the owner, but the proposal for measures, its approval, and the process must be determined by the building authority," explained the councilor. He added that he would immediately approach the authority and if they approved the support of the structure, it could be implemented within weeks. This would be followed by further measurements and a large load test similar to those conducted on Prague's bridges.

What will happen with the underground of the former monument remains unclear; according to Chabr, the city leadership will discuss it. "I believe we are capable of securing the object for at least one year, to give us time to prepare some further solution,” he said. In the past, the city considered building cultural spaces in the underground, but Prague 7 and the departments of the city hall reportedly oppose plans that could mean increased traffic in the quiet zone of Letná Park. A complete renovation of the underground would cost hundreds of millions of crowns, according to the councilor.

The previous leadership of Prague planned to build a gallery in the underground. The current leadership rejected this. Representatives of the United Forces for Prague (TOP 09 and STAN) proposed building a museum of totalitarian regimes after the elections. The city did not approve this plan either, especially disapproved by representatives of Prague Sobě, whose leader is the mayor of Prague 7, Jan Čižinský.

One of the most bizarre European communist monuments was unveiled in 1955 after six years of construction, at a time when the era of glorifying the Soviet leader, who died in 1953, was coming to an end. In February 1956, Stalin's successor Nikita Khrushchev condemned the cult of Stalin's personality at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Despite this, Prague communists only decided to remove the 22-meter-high monument in the early 1960s.

In the early 1990s, cultural events were held in the spaces inside the pedestal. The largest was the exhibition Totalitarian Zone, during which Radio 1 began broadcasting piratically from inside the monument, initially as Radio Stalin.