Due to the reconstruction of the train station in Brno, monuments are also to be violated

Brno - The potential reconstruction of the railway junction and the construction of a new train station in Brno will significantly impact two valuable architectural monuments. According to approved plans, one wing of the monumentally protected building of the Masná burza by architect Bohuslav Fuchs will have to be demolished, and the adjacent City Slaughterhouse will have an overpass instead of a roof. Activists from the coalition Nádraží v centru pointed this out today, and the plans were confirmed by ČTK and representatives of the magistrate.
    The Heritage Preservation Department of the Brno magistrate labeled the route over the slaughterhouse complex from the 1930s as "a solution that lacks respect for the values of the protected area," yet ultimately gave its consent. "We believe this happened under political pressure related to the entire project of relocating the station," said Svatopluk Bartík from the Nádraží v centru coalition to reporters today.
    "Both aspects were discussed with the heritage specialists, who approved the interventions," said the magistrate's spokesperson Pavel Žára to ČTK today. He confirmed that tracks will run where the wing of the burza is to be demolished, specifically the so-called Komárov connection on the Přerov line. "The roof will be removed from the city slaughterhouse, but the beautiful gables will be preserved; the building will seemingly be covered by an overpass," described Žára.
    According to architect Jan Sapák, the chosen solution is poor. "There are always more options to solve the problem in design. Some alternative would surely be found," Sapák told ČTK. He emphasized that the Masná burza is particularly valuable. "It certainly belongs among the six most significant buildings by Fuchs. And Fuchs is an architect of global importance," he pointed out. Demolishing one wing would completely devalue the monument. "They might as well demolish it all. Only some kind of memento will remain," added Sapák.
    Architect and professor at the Brno University of Technology Bohuslav Fuchs (1895-1972) is among the most respected Czech functionalists and modernists. He designed, for example, some pavilions of the Brno exhibition grounds, Hotel Avion, Masaryk's Youth Home in Brno, and also contributed to the urban planning of central Prague. Trading took place in his Masná burza until the 1950s. It is now owned by a private company that operates offices there. The city slaughterhouse belongs to the contributory organization Brněnské komunikace.
    Discussions about the reconstruction of the railway junction in Brno have been ongoing for many decades, and now the project is closest to realization. The cost of the construction is nearly 25 billion crowns. The most disputes revolve around the relocation of the main station 800 meters to the south, but the reconstruction is associated with a number of other interventions across the whole area of Brno.