The competition for a new carousel has not started, a jury member from UNESCO is missing

České Budějovice - The announcement of an architectural competition for a new design of the rotating auditorium in Český Krumlov is being delayed by the fact that UNESCO has not nominated its representative to the jury. České Budějovice, to which the rotunda belongs, was counting on issuing the tender this fall. However, according to the regulations, the competition cannot begin until the names of all jury members are known, and UNESCO has expressed interest in participating in this body. The Ministry of Culture already urged the organization that supervises the list of World Heritage Sites in August to nominate its representative to the evaluation committee. This was stated to journalists today by Jaromír Talíř, the deputy mayor of České Budějovice (KDU-ČSL).

"Therefore, it is not possible to continue the preparation of the competition. The further schedule for resolving the issues will depend on how they (UNESCO) react and how quickly they send that person, because this is now holding up the entire process," Talíř said.

The lease agreement between the city and the National Heritage Institute regarding the land in the castle gardens, where the rotating auditorium is located, is valid until the end of 2017. Talíř admitted that in case of further delays in the procedure surrounding the architectural competition, the city will request an extension of the rotunda's operational period until 2018.

The UNESCO commission previously recommended placing the stage outside the castle grounds, but it also accepts a solution with the auditorium inside the garden. Minister of Culture Daniel Herman (KDU-ČSL) stated on Monday after a government meeting that there has been a slight shift in the case. UNESCO reportedly agrees in its statement that the rotunda can remain in the same place, it just needs to change its form.

However, Talíř pointed out that this formulation cannot be interpreted so explicitly. According to him, the negotiations between the Czech Republic and UNESCO are very cautious and diplomatic. The statements then tend to be vague, and they are interpreted differently by, for example, the Czech National Committee of the International Council on Monuments (ICOMOS) and the city hall of České Budějovice interprets it differently. "We say that the UNESCO report does not state that the rotunda cannot be there. But Professor Girsa (a member of ICOMOS) claims that the context implies that it cannot be there," Talíř said.