Hotel Palace in Ostrava is likely to be razed to the ground

Ostrava - The historic building of the Palace hotel in the center of Ostrava is likely to face demolition. The Ministry of Culture rejected the request of Ostrava's heritage conservationists to declare its originally Art Nouveau building a cultural monument. Its private owner will thus be able to demolish the Palace hotel without any problems and build a new multifunctional complex that includes a hotel, conference center, and shops in its place. This is reported by today's Moravskoslezský deník (MsD).
    The only exception is the part where the National café used to be, which is a historical monument. Naděžda Goryczková from the National Heritage Institute in Ostrava told the newspaper that she must respect the ministry's decision. "But it is a pity. We are still convinced that this block should remain preserved as an integral part of the protected area of the city heritage zone of Ostrava," she said to the newspaper.
    In the second half of the twentieth century, the Art Nouveau buildings of the current Palace hotel underwent an insensitive reconstruction, the paper notes. According to officials from the Ministry of Culture, the construction modifications were very extensive, destructive, did not respect the original preserved layouts, and historical structures. Therefore, the building did not meet the conditions to be declared a cultural monument, MsD adds.
    Jiří Hajný, head of the building office of Moravská Ostrava and Přívoz, stated that he has not yet received any official request for the demolition of the Palace hotel. The owner of the Palace hotel is the company NBC Ostrava, which allegedly wants to entrust the construction of the new complex to a multinational company, the newspaper added, noting that it was unable to contact the hotel owner.