After the repairs, the Czech National Hall in New York will be opened

New York / Prague - The Czech National Building on Manhattan in New York was built by Czech emigrants more than 100 years ago from voluntary collections, where they maintained traditions and strengthened ties to their homeland for many decades. The Czech state took it over years ago in a significantly dilapidated state and, after several interruptions and complications, repaired it over six years. The historic building of the Czech community will be reopened on Thursday, October 30, as part of the celebrations for the 90th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia.
    The most impressive part of the building is the multifunctional Art Nouveau hall with rich decoration on the fourth and fifth floors. It is adorned with stucco, ornate chandeliers, artistically crafted railings, and a decorated curtain. The interior of the hall has now been restored to roughly the form it had 110 years ago but has been complemented with modern technology. This concept ultimately prevailed, although earlier there were calls, especially from the artistic community, to preserve the "raw" state with walls chipped down to the brick.
    On the second floor, a new exhibition gallery was created, and the Czech General Consulate and the Czech Center acquired offices in the building. Visitors will also have access to a cinema or a library, and there should also be a Czech restaurant on the ground floor. During the break in reconstruction, several events have already taken place in the building, such as performances by Husa na provázku and the National Theatre, an exhibition on Czech history, a concert by Marta Kubišová, and a presentation of clothing models by Liběna Rochová.
    Except for the facade and the large hall, the building, designed in the neo-Renaissance style by the German architect William C. Frohne at the end of the 19th century, now has a modern character. A significant unifying element of the interior are the inscriptions on the walls with quotes from Czech and world personalities. The reconstruction of the building (a city landmark of New York since 1994) was carried out by the Jihlava-based company PSJ, which completed the last part of the repairs this October.
    Repairs began in March 2003, but the completion date was postponed several times due to construction and administrative reasons. The amount allocated for the reconstruction also increased; the sum climbed to nearly three-quarters of a billion crowns, which represents the largest investment by the Czech government abroad. Complications were also caused by frequent changes of responsible persons. The building was being repaired during a time of political instability in the Czech Republic around the elections in 2006 and afterward when the government secured trust only after seven months.
    Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek said a year ago that "a terrible lot of mistakes were made in this matter both in terms of the entire intention and in terms of financing." Moreover, the repairs were complicated by an accident in the neighboring building, which resulted in the basement of the building being flooded with oil. Costs were also raised by the fact that, according to local laws, many jobs cannot be performed by Czechs and must be carried out by more expensive American firms. Delays were also signed off by a lawsuit initiated by a part of the expatriate community that opposed the sale of the building to the Czech government for a symbolic dollar.
    Disputes over the operation concept of the Czech National Building apparently also contributed to the dismissal of the New York General Consul Halka Kaiserová this July. The controversy, according to information from ČTK, related to the operation of the planned restaurant. The question is whether to lease it to a local company that works in this field in New York (which Kaiserová reportedly advocated) or to have it operated by an organization or foundation directly associated with the building, which would focus more on its Czech character.
    The building on East 73rd Street was constructed by Czech Americans between 1895 and 1897 in an area where thousands of Czech families lived at the time. However, over time, they began to relocate, and expatriate life began to fade. The building, in which Presidents Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk or Edvard Beneš once lectured, faced demolition. In 2001, it was taken over for a symbolic one dollar by the Czech state, which committed to the repairs. According to the contract, the expatriates have the right to use one of the five floors of the building free of charge for nearly 400 years.