The house for Havel's library is not being repaired, the court annulled the decision

Prague - The reconstruction of the historic building on Loretánské Square in Hradčany, where the Václav Havel Library was to find its home, continues to be delayed. Businessman Zdeněk Bakala, who owns the building, is reported to be only carrying out maintenance and rescue work, according to information posted on the building. A construction permit for the renovation has still not been issued. At the beginning of August, the Municipal Court in Prague annulled the zoning decision. This was reported today by the iDnes.cz server. Bakala purchased the building in Hradčany with the declared intention of establishing Havel's library six years ago.

At that time, the library's management estimated the reconstruction would take a year and a half. According to Bakala, the library was to occupy about a third of the building after the reconstruction. The project was prepared by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill and the Czech architectural firm TaK. The new owners of the building managed to negotiate with all tenants about moving out. The only one who refused was Bohumil Vejtasa, even though Bakala offered him a severance package. For years, due to the building's reconstruction, he has been in communication with the authorities and even challenged the Prague Magistrate's decision regarding the issuance of the zoning decision in court.

Magdaléna Drsová, who represents Bakala in this project in the media, told ČTK today that the court's decision did not concern the construction permit for the actual renovation of the building. It can only be applied for after the builder has a valid zoning decision. The dispute regarding this has been ongoing for several years. Vejtasa challenged it at the building authority as well as at the Magistrate, and the Ministry of Culture was also involved. However, it became valid at the end of last year. At the beginning of August, however, the court upheld Vejtasa's lawsuit against the Magistrate's decision.

According to Drsová, it is regrettable that "due to procedural ambiguities, the further construction of a new dignified home for the Václav Havel Library is now threatened after so many years." The library's management stated in response to ČTK that it is not competent to comment on the disputes regarding the building. After several previous locations, the library is now based in a building on Ostrovní Street.

Criticism of the reconstruction has also come from the last tenant and the Club for Old Prague, as well as residents of neighboring buildings. Work has been ongoing at the building since 2011, and in 2012, the heritage inspection of the Ministry of Culture stated that many tasks were being carried out without permission. According to the investor, these were exploratory works, while the inspection considered them to be restoration works due to their scope. However, the inspection took place at a time when the act was already time-barred. The building department of Prague 1 stated at the time that remediation work had to be ordered because the building had begun to collapse. Before Bakala bought it, the building was not an empty ruin; people lived there.

Prague's heritage experts, whose opinions are necessary for the zoning and construction permits in the area, agreed with the reconstruction of the building. Their views were approved by Minister of Culture Daniel Herman (KDU-ČSL) a year ago.

According to the project, apartments should be created in part of the building. In other sections, there would be a library with several apartments for visiting professors. Critics' objections mainly concern the extent of the basement in the courtyard, which is said to be oversized and could threaten the structural integrity of the building and the surrounding structures. Another criticism was aimed at the roofing of the courtyard. Experts at the Ministry of Culture concluded that the roofing structure is designed to be anchored to the modern parts of the building and that the historical masonry must be preserved.