The building authority in Třinec has approved the construction of a new church in Gutach

Třinec-Guty - The construction office in Třinec has approved the construction of a new chapel in Guty. The original monument was destroyed by an intentionally set fire in August 2017. Work is set to begin in May, said Pavel Kohut, a worker at the Třinec construction office.

"We issued the decision on Monday. Nothing is now preventing the restoration of the chapel," Kohut stated. He added that the office acted according to regulations that allow for the restoration of a structure damaged by incidents like fire in a simplified manner.

The head of the construction department of the diocese, Václav Kotásek, told ČTK that construction work will begin in May. "We will still be working on the foundations of the building," he said. The foundations are the only remnants of the historic structure that remain. According to Kotásek, wooden structures should begin to be transported in early June. The carpentry company has been assembling the building from prepared wood in Hošťálková, in Wallachia, since last year.

"I estimate that work on the wooden structures will begin in June and will last until autumn. Then we will continue with the interior adjustments," he said. Kotásek does not want to estimate exactly when the construction will be completed. "We have already given so many deadlines," he noted. He added that the first service in the new church should take place next year.

Construction work is behind schedule. It was originally supposed to begin in 2018, but negotiations with heritage protection officials delayed it. Last year's deadlines were missed due to a dispute between the diocese and firefighters, who approved the fire protection for the building on the third attempt.

The church from the 16th century burned down on the night of August 2, 2017. The fire caused damage of around 20 million crowns. The regional court in Ostrava sentenced three eighteen-year-old boys from the Ostrava and Frýdek-Místek regions to prison for 3.5 years, eight, and nine years for setting the precious church on fire. The harshest sentence was given to the young man who conceived the act. The lightest sentence was imposed on the boy who ignited the building - he was not yet of legal age at the time of the act. The driver who brought everyone to the scene received an eight-year sentence.

The costs of constructing the replica will amount to 27 million crowns. The diocese has so far invested around nine million, primarily for the cleanup of the ruins, procurement and treatment of wood and stone, documentation preparation, and more. The costs will be mainly covered by insurance for the destroyed church and money from a public collection in the city of Třinec. The wood for making shingles was donated by the Ostrava-Opava Diocese, and the Statutory City of Ostrava provided 300,000 crowns for the production of bells, while the regional office contributed 200,000 crowns for debris removal.