The application for the demolition of the house on Wenceslas Square is already with the authorities

Prague - The owner of the corner house on Wenceslas Square, who plans to build a new building in its place, has already applied for demolition. However, he does not yet have any of the necessary permits. "We continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to move our construction to the next phase, and we hope to complete the approval process before the end of the year," James Woolf from Flow East told ČTK. The new building will also encompass the land under the former printing house on Opletalova Street and under the annexes of the Jalta Hotel.
    The company does not plan to start demolishing the building until it has not only the permit for the removal of the building but also the building permit. Supposedly, this should not happen before the beginning of the year. According to Prague 1 spokesperson Veronika Blažková, the request for demolition was submitted a few days ago. By law, there is a thirty-day deadline for processing the request, but this only applies in practice if there are no other participants entering the relevant proceedings, and if the office does not request additional information for the application. In the case of the house on Wenceslas Square, it is likely that the proceedings could take longer.
    In addition to the corner house, parts of the later technological extensions of the Jalta Hotel and parts of the remains of the former printing house on Opletalova Street are also to be demolished. The request for demolition was filed for all the buildings, Blažková told ČTK.
    For several months, there have been heated debates around the project, and there have been several demonstrations against the demolition. However, in July, the Minister of Culture in resignation, Alena Hanáková, decided that the building would not be protected as a monument, which opened the way for the request for its demolition.
    According to the Ministry of Culture, it is not possible for the ministry to protect all architecturally interesting buildings by declaring them as monuments; this is primarily the role of local governments. "...cultural monuments should primarily be above-average and exceptional objects, rather than those that should be protected due to shortcomings of the City Hall of Prague where widespread monument protection has failed," states in the resolution. Some time ago, the City Hall blessed the intention to demolish the building, and the ministry did not change its decision. Last year, twice it received a proposal to declare the building a monument, but the heritage department did not declare it.
    The company has owned the building since 1994. The costs for the project, including the purchase of the land and the building, reportedly reach one billion crowns; the new building, which is to be named the Flower House, is expected to cost another billion. The investor's intentions have been criticized by several experts over the past few years.