MK will decide anew whether the train station in Ústí n. O. will be a cultural monument

Prague - The Ministry of Culture has initiated renewed proceedings regarding the declaration of the neoclassical railway station building in Ústí nad Orlicí, which is threatened with demolition, as a cultural monument due to a procedural error. Documentary filmmaker and vice-chairwoman of the civic association "We Won't Give Up the Station!" Olga Sommerová announced this to reporters today. She referred to a written decision from the ministry, which halted the original proceedings following objections from Czech Railways, according to which the station was meant to become a cultural monument.
    "Now the situation is such that the proceedings are renewed. And we hope that in this case there are no mistakes in the process and that the building will be declared a cultural monument," said Sommerová. However, representatives of the association are concerned that the new proceedings could slow down the entire matter.
    The ministry stated in its decision that the station should have been resolved in the spring not in new, but in renewed proceedings. Last year, the request from the association's chairman Martin Kadrman was rejected. Thus, the railway station will be addressed for the third time. "There is a public interest in the renewal of the proceedings, as the protection of the cultural heritage of the Czech Republic is undoubtedly a public interest," said Petra Ulbrichová, head of the department of cultural heritage protection at the ministry, in the decision. A copy of the document is available to ČTK.
    The 19th-century railway station was originally planned to be demolished due to the modernization of the railway corridor between Pardubice and Česká Třebová. The reason was the planned straightening of the railway line to allow trains to pass through faster; the line was supposed to go through the current railway station building. Czech Railways also offered the building for sale, originally for 15 million crowns, but now they want about a third of that price, representatives of the association stated.
    According to Kadrman, the Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC) should buy the building and reconstruct it as part of the corridor modernization, which is expected to cost a total of 2.4 billion crowns, instead of building a new structure for 30 million crowns and a new access road to the station.
    Professor of architecture Jiří Suchomel from the Technical University in Liberec has already proposed an alternative project that includes the reconstruction of the building and the use of the current access road at comparable costs. According to the association, the building could also serve as a tourist accommodation, restaurant, and could even host an exhibition on the history of railways in the Czech Republic.
    However, SŽDC stated that modernizing the old building is not part of its investment plans. Therefore, the association urged the Ministry of Transport, Czech Railways, and SŽDC to agree on the conditions under which the investor would take over and reconstruct the railway station building. Kadrman referred to statements from former Minister of Transport Petr Bendl (ODS) and SŽDC's General Director Jan Komárek, indicating that the building could continue to serve for dispatch purposes. More than 16,300 people supported the preservation of the building in a petition, Kadrman added.
    The neoclassical station was designed by architect Rudolf Frey. The building, with an H-shaped floor plan and stone cornices, is constructed from exposed brick, while the upper floors feature less common half-timbered construction. The association provides details on efforts to preserve it at www.stop-demolici.cz.