Šlechtova restaurant in Stromovka has been waiting for renovation for almost 40 years

Prague - The business card of Šlechta's restaurant in Prague's Stromovka park, which will begin reconstruction after years of preparation:

- The building of Šlechta's restaurant, previously known as the Royal Hall, is a cultural monument. It was created at the end of the 17th century as a baroque summer palace, but later the building also served as a storage for hay and grain for the local game preserve. After Stromovka was opened to the public in the early 19th century, a restaurant was established here, which gained its greatest fame during the time it was operated by Václav Šlechta and later by his son Antonín.

- The current appearance of the building was acquired during a neo-Gothic modification according to the design of Bernard Grueber in 1855. After World War II and nationalization, the restaurant's fame began to decline, and it was closed in the 1960s due to its deteriorating condition. The abandoned building burned down in 1978, and two years later, the fire further damaged the already affected restaurant. At that time, demolition was even considered, but the authorities ultimately backed away from this idea.

- Since the 1990s, there has been talk of reconstructing Šlechta's restaurant, which continued to deteriorate during that time and was even used for illegal paintball games. The building was transferred free of charge to the Prague Municipality as part of privatization, which in 1996 entrusted it to Prague 7. The district then unsuccessfully tried for several years to find an investor to reconstruct the dilapidated building, but in 2003, the town hall returned it to the main city.

- Plans for the repair of the monument-protected building were significantly complicated by the floods of 2002, during which the building was flooded to a height of about four meters. Six years later, a crater approximately 20 by 20 meters was created near the restaurant in connection with the construction of the Blanka tunnel, and in 2010, a landslide from the slope above it threatened Šlechta's restaurant.

- In May 2010, the city council decided to repair the building, which was estimated to cost around a quarter of a billion crowns. However, in autumn 2013, the council canceled the tender for the repair of Šlechta's restaurant, as they considered the project to be oversized and the city did not have the funds for it. New tender was announced by Prague only last May, the scope of work was significantly reduced. The construction and restoration company Pracom ultimately emerged victorious from the tender, offering to carry out the work for 101 million crowns excluding VAT.