Concrete bowl for the Spring was placed in front of the Spring colonnade

Karlovy Vary - A new concrete basin for the outdoor spring of the Vřídlo was installed in front of the Vřídelní Colonnade in Karlovy Vary. Due to the relocation of the fourteen-ton colossus, traffic on Vřídelní Street was stopped today. The six-meter basin was positioned by builders with the help of a crane. The trial spring of the Vřídlo at the new location is scheduled for April 15, said ČTK Deputy Mayor Čestmír Bruštík.

“Work around the area near the Vřídelní Colonnade will continue. The trial spring of the Vřídlo should be on April 15, with everything planned to be completely finished and ready for the start of the spa season by May 5. This whole project cost 9.1 million without VAT, of which the basin itself is about 850,000 crowns,” said Bruštík. The Vřídlo will be gushing at the new place outdoors for at least a year, until the colonnade can be reconstructed. It is currently in an emergency state and access to it is restricted.

The city selected the design of the basin from three proposals. The simple basin with a larger diameter won, so that the spring could jet higher. “There was also one variant where the basin was covered by some kind of canopy. But because various winds can blow, the Vřídlo would still spray outside that canopy, so it wouldn’t make sense,” stated the Mayor’s Deputy Jiří Klsák (KOA). A new greenery will also be added in the space between the Vřídelní Colonnade and Theater Square, thus opening up the area more and showing it to visitors in a historically unprecedented form. The city leadership also admits the possibility that the Vřídlo could spring from both places in the future.

Karlovy Vary will announce an architectural competition for the reconstruction of the original spring in the Vřídelní Colonnade. It is necessary to repair both the floor and the load-bearing structure of the dome, which has been damaged by aggressive mineral water and carbon dioxide released from it.