Officials approved the demolition of the Buštěhrad brewery

Buštěhrad (Kladensko) - The construction department of the Kladno city hall has authorized the demolition of the baroque brewery in Buštěhrad in Kladno. The company Level, which wants to build apartment buildings on the site of the partially devastated area, cannot start demolition immediately. According to the department's decision, the wording of which is available to ČTK, they must first develop a detailed proposal for securing the adjacent pond dam, including a static calculation. They must inform the authorities 14 days before starting the demolition.
    "The owner of the building requested the demolition due to its poor technical condition. They provided all the necessary documentation upon which this decision was made," confirmed Olga Pípalová from the Kladno city hall to ČTK regarding the demolition permit.
    The civic association Buštěhrad to itself disagrees with the demolition, claiming that the building has tremendous cultural-historical and aesthetic significance, and its removal would completely destroy the genius loci of old Buštěhrad. The association already sent a letter to the Minister of Culture Václav Riedlbauch in December, asking him to reopen the proceedings for declaring the area a cultural monument. "So far, however, there has been no response from the ministry," said the association's representative Daniela Javorčeková today. When the demolition could begin is, according to her, a question. "In the current weather, they probably won’t go into it," she estimates. The company’s stance is being verified by ČTK.
    According to Javorčeková, preparing the assessment for the pond dam will also take a certain amount of time, and the company must inform the city hall of the demolition commencement with a two-week advance notice so that a worker from the National Heritage Institute can come to photograph the buildings for archival purposes. It is also not excluded that one of the owners of the adjacent plots may appeal against the demolition decision within 15 days. However, the association Buštěhrad to itself cannot use any legal remedy, as it is not a participant in the demolition proceedings.
    The oldest record of the Buštěhrad brewery dates back to 1548. During the Thirty Years' War, the brewery was devastated and was restored in 1633. In 1755, it was rebuilt by Anselm Lurag, who also participated in the construction of the Buštěhrad castle. The brewery was gradually expanded and modernized. From 1847, it was owned by the Habsburgs, and in 1918 it became state property. The last beer was shipped from here in September 1967.
    In 1993, the area was acquired at auction by the company Level, which wants to build apartment buildings with underground garages there. Javorčeková claims that faculty members from the architecture school have already offered Level to assign students the task of preparing a reconstruction study of the brewery. Thus, the company would obtain this documentation for free. Company representatives previously stated that their project would not devalue the historical core of the city and would include replicas of its elements.