The demolition of the Sokolská lodge will probably begin next spring

Janské Lázně - The demolition of the devastated Sokolská hut on Černá hora in Janské Lázně in the Trutnov region will most likely not begin this year. The four-story wooden building, with its typical red paint, was originally scheduled for demolition this spring. The owner is waiting for a change in the zoning plan, which is expected to be completed no earlier than this summer. This information was obtained by ČTK from the owner of the building, Martin Kulík, and the administration of Janské Lázně, where the former mountain hotel is located.

"We do not expect that demolition will begin this year because we still do not have approval of what will definitively stand there instead of the Sokolská hut," Kulík told ČTK. According to him, the current Sokolská hut is very close to a busy road. "We have all agreed to move the new hut about 33 meters while maintaining the same footprint further away from the road, and that requires a change in the zoning plan, which should have already occurred, but has not yet taken place. That is what we are currently waiting for the most. Until the change occurs, we cannot proceed further," Kulík said. He is collaborating on the project for the new building with billionaire Tomáš Němec and also with influential mountain entrepreneur Richard Kirnig, who owns Skiresort Černá hora - Pec.

The change in the zoning plan could, according to the mayor of Janské Lázně, Jiří Hradecký, be completed no earlier than mid-year. "I am pushing for it to be done as soon as possible. I hope it will be completed by the summer, around mid-holidays," Hradecký told ČTK. The mayor does not expect approval of the change in the spring of this year, which would allow demolition work to begin this year. Kulík told ČTK that under the current situation, demolition is out of the question this year. "If it looks like this, everything gets pushed back a year, and we will start the demolition next spring," Kulík said.

The new building will not be a replica of the current wooden four-story Krkonoš hotel; it will be a completely new structure. It is expected to contain a large restaurant and a microbrewery. "Accommodation should be more of a minority component. It should be a public space, a focal point on the ridge, where a person would know that there are quality services," Kulík stated, who owns the nearby ski area in Malá Úpa, where he has a brewery Trautenberk in the former Tippelt hut.

The project is closely linked to the planned connection of the ski areas of Černý Důl, Janské Lázně, and Pec pod Sněžkou into one large resort, which will offer up to 60 kilometers of slopes and connecting trails. Once the areas are connected, the new Sokolská hut is expected to be at the center of activity in the entire eastern Krkonoš region. However, Kulík emphasized that the construction of the new Sokolská hut and the project of the connected ski resort are two separate initiatives.

From the property registry and commercial register, it is evident that the owner of the building at an altitude of 1270 meters is the joint-stock company Sokolská bouda. The company was established in December 2016 by Martin Kulík, Jiří Váchal, Tomáš Němec, and the company Mega Plus represented by its executive Richard Kirnig.