The University of Pardubice will demolish part of the former Telegrafia factory, it is in poor condition

Pardubice - The last part of the former Telegrafia factory in Pardubice will not be able to be saved. The University of Pardubice wanted to convert it for health science courses, but the building from the first half of the last century is in poor condition, and thus it will all be demolished. The demolition will likely take place this year. However, the school plans to build elements that will remind of the history. This was stated by the university spokesperson, Martina Macková, to ČTK.

The school has owned the building since December 2021. It purchased it from a developer who transformed the area of the former Telegrafia and later Tesla into a smaller residential neighborhood. Only one building remains lining the railway tracks. The structural and technical survey of the building, conducted by the Klokner Institute at ČVUT, took two years. Experts gradually performed probes and a static assessment of the entire Telegrafia.

Ultimately, experts stated that the skeleton of the building cannot be used for reconstruction, as the university originally planned. After the adjacent structures were demolished, Telegrafia began to collapse, and the deformations of the skeleton started to tilt. It was also discovered that the foundations, after being uncovered, were long-term waterlogged and lacked sufficient load-bearing capacity.

The university wants to preserve the historical appearance of the Telegrafia building in the new construction. "We are discussing with architects about preserving some elements as a reference to the original Telegrafia. Currently, we are considering a visible gable of the building towards the overpass or also an artistic replica of the chimney and other elements. However, everything depends on our financial capabilities. A public university must spend finances purposefully, economically, and effectively," said the bursar Petr Gabriel.

According to experts' decisions, Telegrafia will be demolished this year, and the university will announce a tender for a construction company. Construction work is expected to be completed by 2026. The Faculty of Health Studies will move there, where young people study general nursing, paramedic, midwifery, or radiological assistance. Over 1200 students and staff will find their support there.

The school will discuss the demolition at a public meeting on Monday in the city district IV. For residents of the surrounding area, the demolition work will be unpleasant, said Mayor Jan Procházka (ANO) to ČTK. "Let people hear it firsthand. We, as a district, will be participants in the proceedings, and we will monitor the routes of trucks carrying rubble from the demolition so that they do not go through the residential part of the district," said Procházka.

Once all construction work is completed, the district will repair Východní Street, which is damaged. According to Procházka, people occasionally feel nostalgia that Telegrafia will not be there. "People who worked at Tesla say, we walked this way to work, at least the front of that building should remain as a memory. And it will not," added Procházka.

The joint stock company Telegrafia was founded in 1919 in Prague, with the state holding 60 percent of the shares. It produced telephones and telegraphs and moved to Pardubice in 1921. Its production program also included electron tubes for radars or radio devices. In 1945, the company was incorporated into the national enterprise Tesla. In the 1950s, it focused on radars. After privatization in 1993, the company went bankrupt within five years. Then, for decades, the area fell into disrepair.