MK wants more time and more money for the repairs of cultural institutions' buildings

Prague – Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek will present a proposal to the government on Monday to extend the Care for National Cultural Heritage I program. The government approved the program in 2019 with a budget of about eight billion crowns allocated for financing 17 renovation and new construction projects of public cultural institutions. The program was supposed to last until 2028.

The funds are intended for repairs of the Trade Fair Palace and the New Stage in Prague, for example. The Ministry of Culture is now proposing to extend the program by one year and increase its budget by 907 million crowns. The minister will also inform the government about the current state of the program.

The Care for National Cultural Heritage I program builds on a previous similar project, specifically counting on support for seven national cultural institutions and a total sum of 7.8 billion crowns. The highest amount, almost 2.5 billion crowns, is allocated for the National Heritage Institute, while 1.7 billion crowns is expected to be drawn by the National Technical Museum. Amounts between half a billion and one billion crowns are designated for the National Theatre, National Museum, National Gallery, Museum of Art Olomouc, and National Film Archive.

Most of the planned renovations are currently in the preparation phase, some only in conceptual designs.

If the government approves the update of the program, it is expected that costs for the renovations of the seats of significant cultural institutions will reach at least 8.78 billion crowns by 2029, according to the submission report.

The Care for National Cultural Heritage I program formally, substantively, and budgetarily follows the currently valid Program for the Care of the National Cultural Treasure. The government approved it back in 2006 and has extended it several times. Now the government wants to extend it for another two years, mainly due to the continually postponed completion date for the renovations of Klementinum, the seat of the National Library and a major baroque monument in the center of Prague. Most recently, the government approved the extension of the program last year, then until the end of 2024, and now it wants to extend it until the end of 2026.