Rektor UMPRUM: NPÚ spoke about the form of the repairs to the ceilings in Mikulandská

Prague - According to the rector of UMPRUM, Jindřich Smetana, the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) is wrong when it denies responsibility for projects to which it provides opinions. The rector stated this in an interview with ČTK in connection with the building on Mikulandská Street in Prague, where ceilings collapsed during reconstruction on Tuesday, injuring three workers. UMPRUM is building its technological and workshop facilities in the building. According to Smetana, the designers had to adjust the plans based on NPÚ's demands, which also concerned the ceiling structures. The rector did not want to assess whether this influenced the accident. NPÚ again denied today that it could be responsible for the accident.

Two floors of the building from the late 19th century on Mikulandská Street collapsed on Tuesday morning. Police are investigating the case, currently for the suspicion of general danger due to negligence. The structural engineer labeled the building as unstable and dangerous. Today, the police handed the building back to the company Metrostav, which is overseeing the construction for UMPRUM.

The building on Mikulandská was entirely in good condition in 2015 and 2016, when its potential heritage protection was being resolved, said NPÚ spokesman Jan Cieslar to ČTK. "At the time when NPÚ was expressing its opinion on the reconstruction intention and when it sought the declaration of the building as a cultural monument, the building showed no signs of any structural defects," he told ČTK.

Prague Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) said after the incident that it is necessary to also examine the role of NPÚ's conservationists, who, according to her, may have forced the designers into "non-standard procedures." Similarly, the Mayor of Prague 1, Oldřich Lomecký (TOP 09), stated on Wednesday that it is not right to try to preserve even dilapidated structures in their original form at all costs. NPÚ rejected this, stating that it is merely an advisory body without decision-making powers, and therefore cannot bear responsibility for the preparation and implementation of projects.

However, according to Rector Smetana, this does not reflect the reality. He believes it cannot be said that NPÚ is just an advisory body that has no influence on the form of projects. "When you read the statements they gave us, there is not even a conditional; they do not know it. There are imperatives - this must be like this, this must not be, this is excluded, this will be like this. And it is known that if it is not like this, then construction will not take place," he told ČTK.

The rector also disagrees that NPÚ assesses only the external attributes of buildings in the Prague heritage reserve when it comes to buildings that are not monument-protected. "That is not true because their statement contained 23 conditions that the designers must meet for the investor," he stated. In the case of Mikulandská, this meant, for example, that beam structures had to be preserved, which would not have been visible anyway, including in the ceilings that collapsed on Tuesday. The original plan, according to him, anticipated the construction of solid ceilings that would stabilize the building. In such a case, the work would have been done entirely differently. "They forced us to preserve the original structures," Smetana added.

However, the rector does not want to associate the practices of the conservationists with Tuesday's tragedy. Regarding the cause of the ceiling collapse, he believes that only the investigation can provide an answer. However, he does agree with the words of Mayor Krnáčová regarding heritage care in Prague. "The question of conservation practices is ripe for re-evaluation; in that, the mayor is right," he stated. According to him, NPÚ imposes changes and then bears no responsibility for the higher costs or time demands of the constructions.

NPÚ denies that it has the ability to impose anything. Spokesman Cieslar reiterated that the institute, as a professional body, only issues non-binding opinions, which then serve as a basis for the decision-making of the building authority. In the case of the building on Mikulandská, it expressed its opinion on the project because it is located in the Prague heritage reserve.