The Ministry of Culture reportedly does not want to declare monuments for specific purposes

Prague - The Ministry of Culture does not want to declare properties as cultural monuments opportunistically. The ministry spokesperson told ČTK this in response to criticism from the ombudsman Otakar Motejl. According to him, the ministry made an error in its decision regarding the inclusion of the Tesco department store in Liberec, formerly Ještěd among monuments. Last year, it decided that it would not be a monument. Now nothing prevents the 70s building from being demolished, despite some historians believing it deserves protection. The demolition order has already been issued.
    "We cannot substitute for the poor work of building authorities. Even in the case of the department store in Liberec, the main reason for submitting the proposal for declaration as a cultural monument was the intention to demolish this object," said Žižková.
    The ministry has dealt with the department store designed by architects Miroslav Masák and Karel Hubáček for the second time; it previously rejected the proposal for listing the building in 2005. Jiří Křížek, an employee of the National Heritage Institute in Liberec, submitted the proposal again last year - but as a private person.
    He compares Ještěd to Prague's Máj, which the ministry declared a monument, and is convinced that they are similarly valuable buildings. Ještěd/Tesco, according to him, represents a unique example of structuralist architecture in the Czech context and is an extraordinary example of how a continuity between Czech and European architecture was maintained even after the country’s political and cultural isolation.
    The Liberec Ještěd also deserves monument protection, according to architectural historian Rostislav Šváchy, who succeeded with a proposal to declare Máj a monument.
    However, ministry officials, according to the spokesperson, have not found sufficient reasons on either occasion for the object to be declared a monument.
    The law does not allow the ombudsman to comment on the ministry's decision. However, Motejl criticizes the errors made during the negotiations regarding the issue, due to which the ministry did not fulfill "the criteria of good governance".
    According to the ombudsman, the ministry did not sufficiently justify its decision. It did not explain how it assessed all the documents in the proceedings and whether it even acknowledged them. Its reasoning lacks arguments by which the ministry could explain why it chose not to respect the opinion of its expert committee, which stated that the department store should be a monument.
    According to Motejl, the building authority that dealt with the issue also erred. It did not address the question of whether the commercial and cultural center Forum, which will be built on the site of Tesco, is suitable for this location from an urban planning perspective.
    The public ombudsman pointed out that in the case of larger demolitions, or the demolitions of significant buildings, authorities should ensure that a public debate arises regarding the projects. According to him, it is not possible to protect every object threatened with demolition at the last minute by trying to have it included among monuments.