The owner of the dilapidated Palace of the World received a fine from Prague

Prague, July 11 - The Department of Heritage Care of the Prague City Hall fined the owner of the cultural monument Palác Svět in Libeň 180,000 crowns for neglecting care for the monument. The owner has appealed. Jan Kněžínek, the head of the department, said this today. The building has long been in very poor condition. Its owner started to demolish part of the devastated automat that belongs to the building some time ago. He plans to build a replica on the site of the annex.
    The Constructivist Palác Svět, made famous by writer Bohumil Hrabal, has been in a deplorable state for years. The building was most damaged by the flood in 2002. Talks about repairs began five years ago, and the city approved a reconstruction study in 2006. However, the owner, the Italian company Crispino, did not start the repairs at that time.
    Delays have been criticized by heritage conservationists. They feared that the building would meet the same fate as the recently demolished heritage-protected stadium in Štvanice. Therefore, the city initiated administrative proceedings with the owner. According to city heritage conservators, the owner did not take care of the monument and did not maintain it in good condition.
    The owner of the building plans to reconstruct apartments in the building and create administrative spaces. According to earlier information, the city is preparing the restoration of the adjacent Elsnic Square and sidewalks.
    Palác Svět was built in the 1930s by builder František Havlen. The reinforced concrete building got its name from the entrepreneur who commissioned it. The complex consists of a residential and commercial building with two basements containing a cinema hall. The first floor housed a restaurant, café, and gaming hall. Since 2003, the complex has been a cultural monument.