Liberec completed the first phase of the window replacement of the historic town hall

Liberec - Liberec has completed the first phase of replacing the aging windows of the historic town hall, which will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year since its completion. The city is currently planning a gradual repair or replacement of 43 windows, with six being done in the first phase. A professional company installed replicas of the historical windows in the reception area on the ground floor over the weekend, the city hall spokesperson Jana Kodymová told ČTK today.

The windows were already in very poor condition, and their replacement cost 775,000 crowns. The city received a grant of 260,000 crowns from the program for the regeneration of urban heritage zones. "For 2018, we want to ideally obtain a grant that is double to continue the repairs and replacements of the windows at a faster pace," said Deputy Mayor Jan Korytář (Changes for Liberec).

The richly decorated Liberec town hall, built between 1887 and 1893, is one of the most valuable monuments in the city and resembles the Vienna town hall. The building, with four above-ground floors and 80 rooms, has approximately 160 windows of various sizes, with the ones on the ground floor being particularly in poor condition. The windows do not close, are warped, and do not seal. Some cannot even be opened.

The restoration of the historic town hall is being done gradually. In the past decade, the city has invested tens of millions of crowns to restore its original appearance. Partitions made of chipboard and drywall, which divided the generous spaces into small offices, were removed. The town hall towers have been restored. A knight, who guarded the city from the completion of the town hall until 1956, has returned to the top of the tower after many years. He was replaced then by a red star and later in 1990 by the Czech lion. In recent years, the last major project was the reconstruction of the historic cellars, which was associated with the reopening of the Radniční sklípek restaurant. The reconstruction cost over eight million crowns.