Workers are finishing the base slab for the repair of the Industrial Palace in Prague

Prague - Workers repairing the Industrial Palace at the Exhibition Grounds in Prague's Bubeneč are completing excavation work and the base slab of the burned wing of the palace. The drilling for heat pumps is finished, and channels for technology distribution are under construction. Workers are preparing to repair the steel structures. Representatives from the city, its company Výstaviště Praha, and builders told journalists today. The complete reconstruction of the palace began a year ago and will last until 2025. The costs of the restoration are expected to be around 2.64 billion crowns. The wing of the palace burned down in October 2008.

Machines and builders have completed drilling for heat pumps in the pit of the left wing. In its first part, workers are already building foundations, and in the second part, they are completing the underpinning of the foundations for the central hall and its foyer. The western part of the basement of the entrance foyer had to be removed due to its poor condition and will be rebuilt. In the central hall facing the burned wing, workers have partially dismantled the historic stained-glass windows, which are in very poor condition due to the fire.

In the central hall, the technological channels occupying about a quarter of the area are also being completely renovated. "Their condition is unsatisfactory for the planned loading of the exhibition space due to previous technological non-compliance, so their ceilings have to be demolished and will be rebuilt with sufficient reinforcement," said David Čech, project manager from Metrostav DIZ, which leads the consortium of companies repairing the palace. Simultaneously, reinforced concrete collectors are being constructed in the preserved wing for future connections between the northern and southern parts of the palace through technical distributions. In rough form, one-third of the stucco facades are completed.

Experts are now preparing to repair the steel structure of the central hall and the preserved wing, their turrets, and clock tower. During the reconstruction in the 1950s, a large part of the structures was covered, and these additions are now being demolished. "After being accessed, the structure is roughly sandblasted and we assess its current condition. It is already clear that in some places parts need to be reinforced, while in others whole new elements will be added to increase load-bearing capacity, to which we will subsequently weld rivets to maintain the original appearance of the structure. The work will then conclude with a final coat in an olive gray shade," said Čech.

Efforts to restore the palace have been accompanied by problems in the past. The city, among other things, was in court over insurance money after the wing burned down. Prague representatives decided in 2018 to announce a tender, which the now-former leadership canceled in October 2019 because it was announced incorrectly. This caused the repair to be delayed again.

The palace was built for the Jubilee Land Exhibition in 1891 according to the design of architect Bedřich Munzberger. From the beginning, it served to host exhibitions and other cultural events, although it was originally intended to be a temporary structure. From 1952 to 1954, the communist government decided to change its function, and the main hall of the palace was reconstructed into a social and dance hall. Its name was also changed to Congress Palace, which was part of the then Park of Culture and Relaxation, named after Julius Fučík.