The region wants a smaller scope of heritage protection for the Melichar Villa complex in Brandýs

Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav - The Melichar villa in Brandýs nad Labem should be, according to its owner, the Central Bohemian Region, a protected monument. However, the protection should not apply to the land under the modern buildings in the villa complex. Therefore, the region filed an appeal against the recent decision of the Ministry of Culture declaring the Melichar villa complex a cultural monument. The extension of protection to the entire area threatens significant investment projects of the region in the city, such as the planned school project, according to the statement of the regional councilor for investments and property, Robert Pecha (KDU-ČSL), on Facebook. Pecha wants to negotiate with the ministry on behalf of the region and find agreement on the scope of monument protection.

Pecha submitted a proposal for the declaration of the villa as a cultural monument last spring while still serving as the mayor of Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav, due to the need to save it from the planned construction of a new departure station for the regional emergency service near the villa. According to him, the planned intervention would lead to the overall degradation of the villa. "I, who was the main initiator of the rescue of the Melichar villa, was forced, from the perspective of saving the project of building a Special Primary School, but also to protect the investment potential of the Central Bohemian Region's property, to file an appeal against the Ministry of Culture's decision to declare the Melichar villa and its surroundings a cultural monument. However, I still stand by the fact that the Melichar villa should be monumentally protected, but within a scope that makes sense, and thus only with the land for which monument protection is logical," Pecha stated.

According to the councilor, the proposal for the declaration concerned the villa building and the immediate surroundings, i.e., the park area to the northeast of the villa. The National Heritage Institute also joined the initiative and expanded it to propose the protection of all lands adjacent to the villa. "That also includes the land under the so-called wooden building, that is, under the modern building of the vocational school, which is a prefabricated structure without any value, ready for demolition," Pecha stated. According to him, a new building for a special primary school should be built on its foundation. The protection, according to the ministry, should also apply to the land under the former vocational school workshops, where the emergency service departure station is located today.

"On behalf of the Central Bohemian Region, I want to negotiate with the ministry and find agreement on the scope of monument protection so that we can also implement the project of the new primary school and preserve, or rather restore, life in these places that truly deserve education," Pecha added.

The Neo-Renaissance villa with functionalist elements was commissioned in 1902 by the Brandýs entrepreneur and owner of an agricultural machinery factory, František Melichar. It was designed by the Prague architect Václav Roštlapil, who was also behind the design of the Straka Academy, for example.