The statue of the pilot Kašpar in Pardubice is criticized by the expert public

Pardubice - The intention of the city to place a realistic statue of aviator Jan Kašpar on Míru Street in Pardubice has met with opposition from the expert community. The Pardubice association Offcity, represented by architects among others, believes in an open letter to Mayor Martin Charvát (ANO) that the city hall should respect the original competition, which was won by a different design, or announce it again.
"If you decide to disregard fundamental democratic principles, your decision will become another dangerous precedent that will push Pardubice to the periphery of Central European cities,” stated the association.
The previous city administration considered creating a memorial. The design of architect Petr Pinkas, a 37-meter-high column with a wind sleeve, won. The original cost estimates of 1.2 million crowns were not confirmed. The entire project is likely to end up costing around 2.7 million crowns. Therefore, the city council halted the project last year.
The city has already settled with architect Pinkas. It paid the winners who succeeded in the competition, and for the project documentation of Pinkas's column nearly 900,000 crowns.
The column was criticized by a petition initiated by local aviators, who did not consider it a dignified tribute to the remarkable achievements of the first Czech aviator. The author of Kašpar's biography, Pavel Sviták, among other things pointed out that the wind sleeves did not exist during the aviator's lifetime.
Some time ago, the city hall approached the author of the bronze statue, František Bálek, without a tender, whose design came in second. The sculptor is to propose its placement and specify the price, which is estimated to be around two million crowns.
The city hall plans to place the life-sized statue on Míru Street. According to the design, the aviator holds a giant propeller of the Blériot aircraft in his hand, with a timeline leading to his greatest aviation successes and the date of his death, March 2, 1927. The city administration intends to unveil the statue next year.