In Čelákovice this year, repairs will begin on the fortress where the municipal museum is located

Čelákovice - This year, Čelákovice, located near Prague, will begin the renovation of the city museum building, which is situated in a heritage-protected castle. The city will carry out the reconstruction in two phases. In the first phase, the courtyard wing will be repaired, followed by the main building in the second. Museum management anticipates that after the construction modifications, a new exhibition will be installed. The total costs will be 35 million crowns, with 20 million expected to be covered by grants, said city mayor Josef Pátek (ODS) to ČTK.

"The reconstruction of the courtyard wing is pending a competition; we are submitting a grant application and expect to start and complete it this year," Pátek said. The courtyard building, which houses an exhibition hall and a storage area, will be renovated, and a new barrier-free restroom will be added. This year, the city also plans to begin selecting a company to carry out the next phase of work in the main building next year.

"The project has been in preparation for some time, but we were waiting for suitable grants. For example, the installations, especially electrical systems, heating, and plumbing, are already inadequate; we want to follow up the reconstruction with a new exhibition, as the current one is about 40 years old," said Pavel Snítilý, the museum's deputy director, to ČTK. Part of the work will include relocating the hall used for cultural events to barrier-free spaces.

The Čelákovice City Museum manages, among other things, an extensive archaeological collection, one of the largest in the Czech Republic, comprising over 320,000 items. "The museum had a large collection area from which it sourced archaeological finds, a significant part of which is fragments of pottery, but we also have artifacts of at least Central European significance, such as an ornate early medieval sword from Lázní Toušeně or a piece of a ceramic face mask from the Bronze Age," said Snítilý. Some rare finds are expected to be part of the new exhibition.

Čelákovice plans expenditures of 632 million crowns in this year’s budget. They also want to continue the renovation of the historic town hall building, with the entry hall and historical staircase set to be refurbished.