The Invalidovna, still damaged by the floods, will probably be up for sale

Prague - During the floods in 2002, many immovable monuments and items of artistic and historical value were damaged in the Czech Republic. In some cases, the damages accumulated to the point that a heritage site housing archives or rare documents was flooded. Such was the case of the Prague Invalidovna, which preserved documents of military and cultural history. Even five years after the floods, the baroque complex remains one of the very few buildings still waiting for major repairs. It may even be put up for sale.
    In the baroque building belonging to the army, the archives of the Military Historical Institute and the National Technical Museum (NTM) were located. The floodwaters inundated a significant amount of material, which constituted approximately ten percent of all the museum's collections, destroying hundreds of thousands of documents, including an archive containing the legacies of prominent Czech architects of the 19th and 20th centuries.
    The water flooded 26,500 boxes of archival materials belonging to the soldiers, out of which nine thousand had to be destroyed. The floods also damaged the building itself, inundating it to several meters high. Even today, the military archive is still located in the upper floors.
    The building still belongs to the army, but the soldiers have been considering selling it for some time. In 2008, the archival materials are expected to be relocated to the building of a former military high school in Prague - Ruzyně. After that, it is likely the soldiers will deem the building unnecessary. "One of the possible options is also sale," said Jan Pejšek from the Ministry of Defense to ČTK.
    In 2002, the soldiers invested 20 million crowns into the most urgent repairs, which included, for example, the restoration of plasters and floors.
    If the property is to be sold, the capital city has already expressed that it is not interested, believing that a strong investor must come forward. The Ministry of Defense estimates the value of the property at approximately one billion crowns, and restoration will require additional hundreds of millions according to heritage conservationists.
    Architectural plans, mostly large-scale works on paper, are still being dried and restored. According to previous information, the museum plans to complete the work around 2013. The museum also now has a new depository, which was established for 85 million crowns in Čelákovice near Prague between 2003 and 2006. It also includes conservation workspaces.
    In the case of the flooded architectural plans, as early as the end of August 2002, architects and heritage conservationists claimed that the archive in the Invalidovna did not have to be flooded, as it should have been relocated to a safe place. According to them, the space was in the main building of the museum at Letná. The NTM received an eviction notice from the Invalidovna as early as 1958, but continued to use the baroque building up until the floods.
    In 1990, the government decided to vacate the premises in the building at Letná, which were occupied by the Ministry of Interior and the enterprises Cartography and Geodesy. The former director of the NTM, Ivo Janoušek, who left the museum at the beginning of 2003, said that he took office in 1990, when both enterprises were already properly leased in the museum, and it was not possible to terminate the contract.