The Českobudějovická Town Hall has postponed the reconstruction of the House of Art

České Budějovice – The city hall of České Budějovice has postponed the reconstruction of the House of Art in Přemysl Otakar II square. The gallery of contemporary art and architecture is to relocate from the building. The city leadership justifies the postponement of the repairs by a lack of funds, as it needs them for other investments. In protest against the city hall's approach, today, at the call of the initiative We Won't Give Up the House of Art, 200 to 300 people gathered in the square, said the initiative's co-founder Michal Hořejší.

The city has a building permit for repairs and a grant of over 20 million crowns. The gallery of contemporary art and architecture is supposed to move to DK Metropol. The organizers of today's demonstration want to address the situation with the city leadership on Monday, December 16, when the city council will discuss the budget for next year.

"As the first thing, we called this demonstration, and we will continue to write letters, pressuring the city hall through correspondence. And on Monday, we will go to the city council and push the city hall to keep the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture in the House of Art and to reconstruct the building,” said Hořejší.

The operator of the House of Art is the city. It is looking for new spaces for the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture. According to the city hall, the gallery could relocate to DK Metropol, which they want to buy, renovate, and also move the South Bohemian Theatre there.

"If the gallery is to continue to serve and function, including for education, it must be in the House of Art. I cannot imagine that artists and architects would exhibit in Metropol, where it is unknown when it will be ready. There are no plans for what it might look like, and given that I know what that space looks like, I cannot imagine where the gallery would be there,” said Michal Škoda, curator of exhibitions at the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture. The educational activities often derive from exhibitions, with around 3,000 children participating each year.

The city announced an architectural competition for the House of Art in 2020. According to the proposal, the building was to include an information center, an exhibition gallery, an educational center, offices, an interactive space, a rooftop terrace, and social and technical facilities. The building thus has processed documentation with an issued building permit. The project has an approved grant of more than 20 million crowns.

The House of Art was also part of the concept for České Budějovice as the European Capital of Culture 2028. The current city leadership allocated 1.25 million CZK for the operation of the gallery, which is 60 percent more than last year. However, they do not want to refurbish the building and want to direct the funds elsewhere, such as the reconstruction of the Háječek summer cinema.

"On one hand, I am criticized by colleagues from the opposition for having record investments, for spending too much, and on the other hand, they want us to reconstruct the House of Art for another 150 million. Let's rather reconstruct the Háječek summer cinema because we don’t have another outdoor scene; we have several indoor ones, and we are repairing quite a few of them. Currently, we are financially drained by the Slavie cultural house, which is becoming more expensive, so there is no money left for the House of Art right now,” said Deputy Mayor Petr Maroš (ODS).

The city's largest investment project next year will be the completion of the reconstruction of the Slavie cultural house. Its budget is over 500 million, and a large part of that will be covered by the city next year. The construction has already exceeded costs by 20 percent. České Budějovice received a grant of 177 million crowns from the National Recovery Plan for the reconstruction. A condition for successful disbursement is the completion permit next year.