Association: Skyscrapers may threaten Prague's inclusion on the UNESCO list

PRAGUE - The planned high-rise buildings on Pankrác Plain may lead to Prague being removed from the UNESCO World Heritage list. Representatives of several civic associations, which criticize the investor's intention, told journalists today. Some associations have already contacted UNESCO officials by letter, requesting that they pay attention to this matter.
However, according to Jan Kněžínka, the director of the municipal heritage department, Prague's position in relation to the planned construction of high-rise buildings is not threatened. "These are absolute nonsense," he told CTK today. According to Kněžínka, the heritage department has issued a positive opinion on the study. The National Heritage Institute and the city expert group expressed similar views, he added.
According to information from the associations, two more high-rise buildings are to be added to the current high-rises in Pankrác. They must not exceed the height of the former Motokov, now City Empiria. According to original plans, they were supposed to be much taller than the current tallest building there, which used to belong to the radio and is now called City Tower.
The new skyscrapers, according to Martin Skalský from the Arnika association, will disrupt the city panorama. "There may be damage to the heritage values of Prague," he said at a press conference. Concerns were also expressed by Josef Štulc, chairman of the Czech committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) at UNESCO.
According to him, UNESCO officials have already handled two very similar cases in Vienna and Cologne. In Vienna, the plan for the construction of high-rise buildings ultimately fell through, except for one. Cologne was, according to Štulc, placed on the list of endangered monuments. Prague now faces the same process, he warned. Kněžínka stated that this is Štulc's private opinion.
Several associations have been opposing the investor's intention, ECM, for several years. Part of them reportedly turned to UNESCO because they have exhausted all possibilities to prevent construction in the Czech Republic. Other associations are preparing a similar letter.
Architect Vlado Milunič also criticizes the plan to build high-rise buildings, according to whom Prague is a city of towers, not skyscrapers. According to Kateřina Bečková, chairwoman of the Club for Old Prague, the mistake was made in the past when the first three tall buildings appeared in Pankrác. They are referred to as rotten teeth. Kněžínka remarked that the worst situation is precisely the one currently existing on the plain.
Marie Janoušková from the Pankrác Civic Initiative asserts that the associations are not against construction on the plain, but it must be reasonable. According to her, there should be houses created there that would offer various services for local residents. Skyscrapers, according to Janoušková, will bring nothing positive; she claims that only the traffic around will become denser.