I have been struggling to find a company that would build the Museum of Mechanical Nativity Scenes

Svitavy – Svitavy have not succeeded for the second time in finding a company in the competition that would build the planned Museum of Mechanical Nativity Scenes in the city. The building is meant to replace a dilapidated apartment house next to the Ottendorfer House at Peace Square. The main exhibit of the museum will be a 15-meter-long Svitavy mechanical nativity scene. Last year, only one applicant showed interest, while this year there are three, but they offered prices that are too high. Therefore, the city hall will announce the tender for the third time and will submit a modified project that should be cheaper, said Deputy Mayor Pavel Čížek (ODS) to ČTK.

"The prices are high, which is why we canceled the competition. Currently, we are adjusting the project documentation to see if we can make modifications that would lower the overall cost of the construction while maintaining the same concept and purpose for the conversion of the building into the Museum of Mechanical Nativity Scenes," Čížek stated.

The original cost estimate was 100 million crowns excluding VAT. The city has already received a commitment for a grant of 68 million crowns from the European Integrated Regional Operational Programme and an additional 20 million from a Czech-Polish project. However, in the last competition, the bids ranged from 138 million to 160 million crowns excluding VAT. According to Čížek, the cause is the sharp rise in construction material prices, such as aluminum profiles or concrete work.

The city is looking for savings with the designers in the project to bring the price down to 70 million to 80 million crowns. The construction, for instance, will not include the modification of the underground floor or the expansion of additional underground spaces between the Ottendorfer House and the neighboring facility. Changes could also relate to interiors and other building elements.

A new tender could be announced in the fall. The subsidy will be appropriately reduced based on the final price. However, it is essential to complete everything by mid-2029.

The main exhibit of the museum will be a 15-meter-long Svitavy mechanical nativity scene. There is no suitable place for this extensive collection in the city museum. The entire nativity scene, with its rich architecture, is a collection of works from several nativity scene associations from 1826 to 1942. It entered the Svitavy museum after 1945, where, apparently, four nativity scenes were combined into one large one. Originally, the rural part was movable while the urban part was static. It measures approximately 15 meters in length and 2.5 meters in height, contains 692 polychrome figures and buildings, six painted scenes, and 62 mechanics. In the 1960s, the nativity scene was transported to the East Bohemian Museum in Pardubice, where it was partially restored. In 2015, the city reacquired it, and it was also listed as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.