The condition of the Karlovy Vary School of Applied Arts will be assessed by a report

Karlovy Vary - The Karlovy Vary Region will have an expert assessment prepared regarding the condition of the building of the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Karlovy Vary, which is at risk of demolition. It is to be completed by the end of the year, and according to its conclusions, the region will decide what to do with the building with compromised structure, said regional councilor Jaroslav Bradáč (SPO) to ČTK.

"The Karlovy Vary Region has initiated a tender for the provision of an expert assessment of the condition of the old ceramics school building, in order to meet the requirements of heritage conservationists and to ascertain the detailed condition of the building. Out of three offers, the Klokner Institute at CTU was selected," Bradáč stated. The cost of the assessment is to be 145,000 crowns.

According to Bradáč, there are still three options on the table. Either the assessment will show that it is possible to repair the building for a reasonable amount of money, or it will be necessary to demolish the building and construct a new one in its place, or the entire school will relocate to another site.

The structural problems are likely caused by the use of aluminous cement in the building's structures, which degrades and crumbles over time under certain conditions. The same material was used, for example, in the construction of the Baťa House in Mariánské Lázně, which was demolished in 2015. It is also found in many other buildings constructed in the 1920s and 1930s.

In the building from 1920, the school had, for example, a newly equipped laboratory, as well as eight rental apartments that their residents had to vacate practically overnight after being alerted by the structural engineer. The industrial school is currently using only the new part of the school complex.