Prague will donate half a million crowns for the renovation of the Sarajevo Town Hall

Photo: Christian Bickel

Prague - Prague will donate 550,000 crowns for the repair of the town hall in Bosnia's Sarajevo. This was decided today by the council of the capital city, as informed by the press department of the Prague City Hall. The author of the town hall and other government buildings in Sarajevo is Czech architect Karel Pařík.
    "The financial contribution in the form of a donation has been decided by the capital city of Prague in consideration of the long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation between the cities of Prague and Sarajevo, as well as the fact that it will be used for the restoration of a work by a Czech architect who significantly contributed to the architectural development of the city," stated Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS).
    The town hall was opened in 1896 and has housed the National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1949. During the civil war in the 1990s, the library was destroyed by bombing and has been under reconstruction since then. The building will subsequently serve for the representative purposes of the town hall and also for the needs of the national and university library. It should also include a museum documenting the history of the building.
    Part of the funds for the repairs will be obtained by Sarajevo from European Union funds as well as from other donors, including Austria, Hungary, and several European cities.