Reaction to the recent entry of the new boarding hall of the main train station in Prague as a cultural monument in the NPÚ catalog

The Prague City Hall, along with the Czech Railways and the Prague Public Transit Company as the contracting authorities of the Competitive Dialogue New Hlavák, considers it necessary to address the current situation.

The registration of the main train station hall in the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) catalog of cultural monuments occurred unexpectedly literally overnight and is a surprise to us. The registration is, however, based on invalid reasoning and lacks any legal foundation. The hasty and unsupported actions of NPÚ are not only non-standard but also give the impression of being purposefully driven. Our goal at this moment is to obtain a clear and final position from the authorities, which the winning team can continue to work with in developing the architectural study. We are therefore ready to further negotiate with NPÚ about the entire situation.

During the creation of the tender documentation for the competitive dialogue, we consulted the situation with NPÚ and the Department of Heritage Care of the Prague City Hall. Representatives of NPÚ confirmed at a meeting before the announcement of the Competitive Dialogue that the NOH is not a registered monument. Furthermore, the institute had access to the draft competition assignment, which the heritage protectors did not dispute in any way, and it was added based on the discussion that participants in the competitive dialogue are expected to maintain a sensitive approach to the reconstruction of buildings within the area of the Prague Heritage Reserve. This makes today's development all the more surprising.

Only in the final phase of the competitive dialogue did the Ministry of Culture inform us that it considers the NOH to be a cultural monument, referring to the opinion of the Railway Authority. Initially, this authority designated NOH as an extension of the Fant's building and subsequently corrected its opinion after the supporting documents were completed. From this corrected stance (attached to this statement), it now follows that NOH is not an extension of Fant's building, as NOH does not meet the condition of being an integral and functionally connected part of Fant's building. The original communication from the Ministry of Culture thus lost any justification.

On the contrary, the New Check-In Hall, along with the main line, metro, and side ramps, forms a structural and functional whole; therefore, if there were a heritage protection status for NOH, parts of the main line or the parking lot on the roof of NOH would also be part of the cultural monument. Throughout the existence of NOH, it was not treated by heritage protection authorities as a cultural monument. During the competitive dialogue, there were repeated discussions regarding heritage protection, with a clear outcome that there is no valid document proving the heritage protection of NOH. This fact is further confirmed by the hasty addition of NOH to the NPÚ catalog three days after the announcement of the competitive dialogue results. The entire Competitive Dialogue was thus completed with the understanding that there is no legal or other basis for considering the hall as a cultural monument.

The hall itself had not been listed as a cultural monument in the NPÚ catalog until November 30, 2023. The New Check-In Hall was even proposed in the past for declaration as a cultural monument by NPÚ (in 2004), but the proposal was rejected by the Ministry of Culture and no proceedings were initiated for its declaration as a cultural monument. The current registration, however, includes a note about this type of legal protection dating back to 1958. However, the hall was built only between 1973 and 1979. The chaotic and uncoordinated actions of the heritage protection authorities do not change the fact that we, as contracting authorities, alerted the participants to both the architectural value of the hall and the protected cultural area during the competitive dialogue. They also reflected it in their proposals.

More information about the Competitive Dialogue, participation, and proposals can be found on the website Nový Hlavák.