The reconstruction of the cultural house in Ostrov revealed historical colored plasters

Ostrov - The extensive reconstruction of the community center in Ostrov and its conversion into a cultural and creative center continues. The builders are conducting special probes; the restoration survey of the composition and surface treatment of the plaster and decorative elements has been completed. The results of the survey are surprising and have delighted both Mayor Pavel Čekan (independent, elected by Locals) and the Karlovy Vary monument protectors who oversee the reconstruction. The original wall colors have been discovered, the mayor stated. Restorers are now gradually dismantling the interior furnishings that will be renovated, ČTK learned.

"The survey also involved taking simple and strip probes to determine the original colors of the communal spaces in the building’s interiors,” said Ladislav Kratoška, who coordinates the restoration work. "In the community hall and foyer, it is a light green color and in the café, an old rose with a hint of red. However, only about a two-centimeter piece of the original plaster was revealed, so the new paint will need to be sampled and consulted with the monument protectors," the mayor reported. At the entrance to the cinema café, where an exhibition related to Sorel is planned in the future — that is, to the architectural style of socialist realism, in which both the community center and a significant portion of the city’s apartment buildings are constructed — the probes even revealed a two-colored original paint job.

The wooden paneling in each of the halls is awaiting refurbishment. A specialized company has also begun to dismantle 200 original light fixtures, which will gradually be transported to the studios for renovation. "We start with the smallest types and leave the largest chandeliers for last. The chandeliers require so-called glassmaking, an old good craft that is currently used precisely in the production of chandeliers and the restoration of historical ones. We are cleaning their glass parts using ultrasound," said the supplier of glassmaking work, Martin Jirásek. His glassmaking shop has restored, for example, the fixtures in the Valdštejn Palace in Prague.

Prague-based academic painter and restorer Zdeněk Novotný is preparing to restore the murals by Václav Lokvenec and Jarmila Kalašová. "He wants to work on the renovation of both murals himself, even though they are giant formats. Only in that way, according to him, will the uniformity of execution be maintained," said Lucie Kubešová, spokesperson for the Ostrov Town Hall. Restorer Jan Lhoták is also working on the restoration of other paintings that cannot be dismantled and therefore remain in place.

The planned reconstruction began last October after several months of postponements. More than 80 million crowns are being spent on the restoration of the interiors and the installation of modern technologies. The city secured approximately 42 million in grants from the Ministry of Culture's national recovery fund from the European Integrated Regional Operational Programme, making it one of 13 cities in the entire Czech Republic to do so. The grant must be accounted for by the end of September to avoid losing it. Currently, according to Kubešová, two million have been spent so far. "The most expensive items on the invoice are still pending; these include expensive technologies or air conditioning, which will be installed in the spring at the earliest, when the construction part of the work is finishing," she added.

Furthermore, the city might build a new park near the community center in the future, for which it will likely also receive a grant for greenery. It could include a memorial to sculptor Jaroslav Šlezinger, who is the author of the building’s working-class sculpture on the roof of the community center. The sculptor himself was imprisoned in Ostrov in the 1950s and forced to work in the so-called Death Tower in Vykmanov with uranium ore. He died in 1955 at the age of 44 in the military hospital in Vykmanov from lung cancer. According to Čekan, the park with the memorial will be a cheaper tribute to Šlezinger than the one planned by the former city leadership for 22 million crowns. At that time, a periscope was proposed through which people could look at Šlezinger's sculpture above the main entrance of the community center.