MK made a mistake during the negotiations about the Ještěd department store in Liberec

Brno - According to ombudsman Otakar Motejl, the Ministry of Culture made a mistake in deciding to include the Liberec department store Tesco among heritage sites. The law does not allow the public defender of rights to comment on the decision itself. However, Motejl criticizes something else - the errors in the negotiation process regarding the issue, due to which the ministry did not fulfill "criteria of good governance." The spokesperson for the ombudsman's office, Iva Hrazdílková, told ČTK today. The ministry's response is being sought by ČTK.
The Liberec department store Tesco, formerly named Ještěd, still stands. However, a demolition order has already been issued for it. The building, designed by architects Miroslav Masák and Karel Hubáček, was sought to be saved by opponents of the demolition who requested the Ministry of Culture to register it as a heritage site.
The ministry did not comply with their request. It asked for all necessary opinions regarding the issue and made a decision. The problem is that it did not sufficiently justify its decision afterwards. It did not clarify how it assessed all the documentation in the proceedings and whether it even acknowledged them.
"In the justification, it only refers to the documentation without presenting its reasoning and evaluation," states Motejl's decision on the case. The justification also lacks arguments that would explain, for example, why the ministry decided not to respect the opinion of its expert committee, which stated that the department store should be a heritage site.
The ombudsman emphasized that the Ministry of Culture has thus failed to fulfill the basic criteria of the administrative code and issued a decision that is non-reviewable. According to Motejl, the building authority that dealt with the issue also erred. It did not address whether the object of 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 defender of rights pointed out that in the case of major demolitions or demolitions of significant buildings, authorities should strive to ensure that there is public debate surrounding 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 heritage sites.