<p>Station buildings in Prague are not helped by heritage protection either</p>

Prague - Among the monuments, alongside centuries-old ones, modern examples, including instances of industrial architecture, also have their place. However, Prague's train stations belong to the constructions that have been unfortunate. The demolition of Těšnov station in the 1980s serves as a deterrent example of care for monuments; it is attributed to a time of oppression when even heritage care served the ruling ideology. Yet even today, several Prague train stations stand on the brink of destruction, and their condition can still be blamed on state heritage care combined with the city’s attitude.
    Experts engaged in industrial heritage are thus disappointed by such attitudes from responsible authorities. According to the Research Center for Industrial Heritage at the Czech Technical University (VCPD), these buildings must also be protected - they are not only evidence of the era but also potential for the development of architecture. Abroad, there are many examples of their quality new usage; occasionally such examples appear in the Czech Republic, but more often, owners of these monuments dispose of them, and authorities do not make such decisions difficult.
    An example of long-term decay of a building with heritage value is the Vyšehrad station, which the railways sold just like part of the freight station in Žižkov. After being abandoned for 20 years, it found a buyer last year for 42.5 million crowns. The city council of Prague 2 also pursued the station, criticizing the sale - fearing that the owner would want to recoup such a large investment quickly and would adapt the renovation project accordingly.
    The owner soon had the waiting room building demolished, for which he received a fine of one hundred thousand crowns from the city council in the spring. At that time, it was the highest possible penalty. As of September, a revision to the heritage law will take effect, which allows for fines of up to two million crowns to be imposed on legal entities.
    In recent days, there has been much talk about Masaryk Station. For years, rumors have circulated that developers are eyeing the land in the city center. In early August, Prague councilors approved changes to the zoning plan to allow residential and office buildings to be built in the area. All the station buildings are, however, protected as heritage sites, and the establishment of a railway museum is planned at the depot there.
    The fate of "Masaryčka" will still be decided by the Railway Infrastructure Administration and the Ministry of Transport. The pressure for construction in the center is strong from developers. They are likely to influence officials at the Ministry of Culture as well. Recently, they revoked the heritage protection of several buildings in the Bubny station area. Four years ago, the same worker from the ministry declared the same buildings as heritage, which he has now revoked at the owner's request, as reported by ČTK. In the meantime, nothing has happened to the buildings; according to VCPD, the reasons for their protection still exist.
    The ministry states that the recommendation to revoke protection came from the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) as well as the city's heritage department. However, according to ČTK information, the NPÚ council was against the revocation, and yet approval for the revocation was given by NPÚ. Furthermore, according to one commission member, the majority at the city council favored the idea that the area should be protected as a heritage site. In the end, however, a view that it could be questioned was sent to the ministry.
    The changes to the zoning plan approved now by Prague councilors also create the possibility to demolish the Žižkov freight station in favor of a new boulevard that appeals to the representatives of Prague 3. According to VCPD, the building perfectly fulfills the functionalist thesis of a house - machinery, and its operational solution represents a European unique; it is simultaneously the longest building in Prague. In recent years, over twenty studies of its new use have been created. However, since the building is not protected as a heritage site, the owner can destroy it. He purchased it for 136 million crowns from České dráhy.
    According to VCPD director Benjamin Fragner, demolishing this station would not only be a significant cultural loss but also a fundamental misunderstanding of the opportunity that new uses of this unique industrial complex offer for creating the future urban composition of Žižkov. The demolition justified by the need to create a new center in Žižkov seems more like a cover for searching for the simplest solution for the architect and developer, whose banality would be precisely offset by preserving the industrial monument, Fragner stated.
    The new building of the Main Station from the late 1970s is also undergoing transformation - even though its authors are alive and trying to cooperate on the reconstruction project. In the name of modernization and greater luxury for travelers, for instance, shops are being created in the middle of the waiting hall, which contradicts the purpose of the building - according to the authors, the station hall should be generous and facilitate people's search for the way to the trains. This building is not protected as a heritage site, and many examples, not only of station buildings, show that for some investors it is not a problem to impose the revocation of heritage protection on officials.