The waiting area at Obilní trh will probably be renovated next year

Brno - The functionalist tram waiting room at the Grain Market will probably not be repaired until next year, approximately a year and a half after the original deadline. The Brno-City district has changed construction companies. It is likely to claim two million crowns from the previous company, it was stated today at a press conference of the city district. The exceptional building from 1926 is also at risk of losing its heritage protection. According to some experts, the damages caused by the original construction company are irreversible.

The author of the restoration project of the waiting room, Tomáš Rusín, said today that it will be possible to save about 55 percent of the waiting room. It should be fully functional according to him, albeit without toilets that were in the basement. "The underground part is sealed, it cannot be operated or renovated, and current standards will not allow it to be opened as it was originally designed," Rusín stated. The restoration of the monument includes a terrace made of artificial stone, glass blocks, and the original steel structures will be refurbished and returned.

The original contract was awarded last year to the company ŠTUK HELMA s.r.o. for a price of 1.958 million crowns. The city district has so far paid around one million. However, it wants to claim double that amount because the company, according to the city hall, did not respect the project. "They did not proceed according to the structural project, the laying of reinforcements, the armoring of the building," said Rusín, who was surprised that such a small construction "can be botched like this." However, the construction company disagrees with the criticism from architects and the city hall. "We proceeded according to what was approved and agreed upon during inspection days. The project for the demolition work was incorrect; if we had done it completely against the project, it would have fallen to the ground and there would be nothing to save," Zdeněk Helma from the construction company told ČTK today. He stated that his company did not destroy anything but was rescuing. They have been renovating cultural monuments since the 90s.

However, the city hall has already terminated the contract with this company and selected a new one - the company Tocháček. They have already begun work on the waiting room. They have hung a sign at the stop saying "we are repairing the stop left by the previous company." According to Viktor Jaroš from the Tocháček company, the building will probably be repaired by spring because it will not be possible to do some parts in winter. According to the contract, the city hall will pay 2.7 million crowns for the second phase of repairs. The price is higher due to some additional requirements from heritage protectors, such as the glass blocks that were not in the original documentation.

Before the waiting room is repaired, it may no longer be a cultural monument. The proposal to cancel the heritage protection is being dealt with by the Ministry of Culture, which initiated proceedings based on the suggestion of restorer Radek Ryšánek. According to him, the object has lost its heritage value. The Ministry of Culture has not yet responded to ČTK's inquiry on Wednesday regarding the stage of the proceedings.

According to Ryšánek, the monument was irreparably destroyed. "About half of the original building material has been demolished, of which only the rebar (reinforcements) remain. This original material will never be possible to restore," Ryšánek stated. He also noted that the original technology of the building or the original ceramic tiles are irreparably destroyed, and the underground part with toilets has been filled with rubble and poured with concrete. According to Ryšánek, the object designed by architect Oskar Poříška has lost both technological and morphological authenticity.

Brno's heritage specialists do not agree with the cancellation of the heritage protection of the object. However, they acknowledge that the stop, which was previously a functionalist gem, has been damaged. "The restoration of modern architectural monuments is very complicated, primarily due to the often discovered impossibility of restoring original materials affected by corrosion," said Zdeněk Vácha, the director of the Brno office of the National Heritage Institute previously. The city district of Brno-City and the architects of the restoration project for the waiting room are also in favor of maintaining the heritage protection of the object.