In Přerov, a bridge by SHB will be built; decided by a single vote

Olomouc - Only a single vote in the architectural competition decided that Tyršův most in Přerov will be built according to the design by the Brno firm SHB. Six out of 11 members of the expert jury, appointed by the city council, raised their hands for the variant, against which not only part of the citizens of Přerov but also conservationists and ornithologists have protested. Ladislav Klusáček from the Brno University of Technology also voted for the design. He is currently serving as the chairman of the board of the winning firm SHB, Jiří Stráský's superior. This information is reported today by the Central Moravia edition of Mladá fronta Dnes.
According to Jana Petráňová from the Czech Chamber of Architects, the design should have been withdrawn from the competition in this case. However, Ladislav Klusáček denies any accusations, stating that the competition was anonymous and he did not know who created the project for which he voted. "I am professionally acquainted with other authors of the Tyršův most designs as well. But I can honestly say that none of them influenced or contacted me before the vote. Because the competition was anonymous, I didn't even know that the company of my superior was applying for it," Klusáček told the newspaper.
This is disagreed by another competitor, Radim Zapletal. According to him, the jurors received the competition conditions six months before the voting. "They include a list of invited participants in the competition, among which SHB is listed. And any average architect can recognize their colleagues' handwriting. It's not difficult to assign an unsigned proposal to a specific firm," Zapletal told the newspaper. He pointed out that the same document explicitly states that individuals who are immediate superiors or collaborators of jury members must be excluded from the competition.
According to the spokesperson for the Přerov city council, Bohuslav Přidal, the council was not aware of any connections to jury members. According to him, the council has approved the results and will not deal with it further. He stated that the competition took place years ago and no one has appealed the results.
The competition for the new Tyršův most project was announced by the city council in 2003. The council awarded the winning firm a prize of 160,000 crowns. The council then conducted a survey among people, in which residents preferred another design. Even so, the city has now decided to return to the winning variant and realize the bridge.