Silver wants to change the square and fights for the project for free

Stříbro - The local government in Stříbro is preparing a radical change to the appearance of the square. The eight-thousand-strong town has entered the competition for the Peter Parléř Award, in which it has a chance to receive an architectural study free of charge for the renewal of the medieval town center. A professional committee recently decided that Stříbro advanced from 27 towns to the top ten finalists, said Deputy Mayor Pavel Tóth to ČTK. The competition will be announced on May 15.
Stříbro wants to launch a project worth tens of millions of crowns. The gray rectangular square is to be completely reconstructed. "The changes will also affect traffic concepts and parking areas. Unsightly asphalt will be replaced with paving. We would like to place greenery in the square; mature trees along the edges to enliven the area," added Tóth.
The local authority aims to combine the works with the renovation of the 14-meter-high plague column that dominates the square. The column of the Virgin Mary is surrounded by 12 statues of Czech and Moravian patrons. "Most locals perceive it as part of the square, so they do not notice that time is also taking its toll on it," the deputy mayor added.
In contrast, almost all historical houses around the square, which are owned by private individuals, have recently been renovated. Stříbro, managing an annual budget of about 120 million crowns, seeks to obtain the maximum amount of funding from European regional operational programs. "We would like our participation in the competition to be a challenge for architects. We try to invest several million in monuments each year," Tóth added.
Besides Stříbro, the semi-finalists include Děčín, Chýně near Prague, Jihlava, Kraslice in Sokolov, Litovel, Mladá Boleslav, Slavkov near Brno, Světlá nad Sázavou, and Tišnov near Brno. Thanks to the competition, smaller towns can change their problematic areas. To receive one or more studies for free, they must prepare quality documentation and specify the implementation period. Last year, 252 towns were approached, 30 registered, and ten were selected for the competition. Eight of them received studies.