In the fire-damaged building of Karnoly in Krnov, repairs are concluding

Ostrava – Repairs for 14.6 million crowns are nearing completion in the sample shop building at the site of the former Karnola textile factory in Krnov, Bruntál region, which was destroyed by an intentionally set fire in December 2017. This was announced today by city spokesperson Dita Círová. The fire severely damaged the rare sample shop of fabrics, including swatch books, pattern books, and historical weaving machines, five years ago.

The so-called dezinatura was supposed to be part of a large interactive museum project. However, after the fire, the city ultimately abandoned its plans. It even gave up a hundred-million crown grant that it had received from the European Union. A smaller museum is still expected to be established there.

"The current repairs for 14.6 million crowns include, among other things, the replacement of floors, ceilings, beams, columns, windows, and doors damaged by the fire, as well as plastering, painting, and complete electrical installations. Since this is a national cultural monument, the work is being supervised by conservationists, who have some additional requirements," said the city spokesperson.

Pavel Hanzel from the city’s investment and property management department added that it was found, for example, that the frames around the steel windows differ in depth and width on each window within the same floor. "For this reason, conservationists proposed to unify the depth and width of the frames of individual windows and their rebuilding and repositioning," he stated. The work is expected to finish by October 31, which is three months later than originally agreed. Delays are primarily due to a shortage of construction materials.

After the repairs are completed, the restoration of the machines will follow, which will be handled by former Karnola adjusters Josef Vojkůvka, Rudolf Klimenko, and Jiří Šurman. The dezinatura should then be accessible to the public on a limited basis during occasional tours.

The former spinning house building with the sample workshop was declared a national cultural monument by the government in 2010. The workshop designed patterns for the fabrics produced each season. It contained a complete set of both mechanical and manual looms of various constructions, winding and weaving machines, and other necessary workshop equipment. An integral part was also a valuable collection of fabric swatches, pattern books, and production regulations, the oldest of which dated back to the last three decades of the 19th century.

Before the fire that engulfed the former textile factory on December 20, 2017, the workshop was in the state it was on its last working day. It was unique in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. According to the police, the building was set on fire in several places by two schoolboys. The fire caused damage exceeding 19 million crowns. It fully impacted the rare fabric sample shop, which was intended to be the main element of the planned museum.

The fire and the water used to extinguish it also devastated the valuable collection of fabric swatches, pattern books, and other documents. Those that were able to be saved have already returned from the drying chamber of the National Museum in Prague and are now being sorted into groups based on damage and historical value by former sample shop manager Jitka Navrátilová, who is also partially conserving them.