In the Supreme Burgrave's Office at the Castle, the former House of Children will be demolished

Prague - The premises of the Supreme Burgrave's Office at Prague Castle will soon look different than they have in the last 50 years. The management of Prague Castle has decided to remove a building from the 1960s that is deteriorating and currently only houses a café and a souvenir shop. Just a few years ago, a reconstruction of this building was planned.
    "The building is at the end of its lifespan: the roof structure is leaking, the type of glazing is inadequate, causing condensation in winter and overheating in summer," said David Šebek, spokesperson for the Prague Castle Administration (SPH), to ČTK. The metal profiles and concrete structures of the building are corroding. The building's statics are also poor, which, according to the spokesperson, does not meet current fire safety requirements. "Essentially, it is irreparable," he concluded.
    The information about the planned demolition of the building was reported on Friday by the server ihned.cz. No new building will be constructed in its place, but a fountain currently located in the building's atrium will remain in the middle. After the building's demolition, the façades of the surrounding buildings that encircle the annex will also be repaired. This annex was created on the site of renaissance houses that were removed.
    According to Šebek, the start of the work depends on the outcome of the ongoing tender. The Summer Shakespeare Festival takes place in the courtyard of the burgrave's office in the summer, and according to Šebek, it will proceed as planned.
    The small house in the courtyard of the burgrave's office was established as the House of Czechoslovak Children. Its reconstruction has been considered since the early 1990s, but it was not possible due to unresolved restitution claims. Since 2002, it has housed the Leica Gallery, specializing in photography exhibitions that have been among the most visited in the Czech Republic. However, despite the original agreements on long-term cooperation, SPH did not extend the lease contract for the burgrave's office in 2004 and announced a public tender for it.
    In this tender, they selected the Schok agency, which operates the Summer Shakespeare Festival. The agency committed to building a cultural and information center in the house after reconstruction, which would include a multimedia hall, exhibition space, information center, gastronomic establishment, and facilities for the Shakespeare Festival. In 2008, they reported that they had prepared a study and that architectural proposals were in preparation, with the renovation expected to start the following year.
    The reason for the delayed start of the reconstruction, according to the agency's then-executive director Václav Beránek, was the high level of responsibility - the construction work was to be the greatest intervention in the architecture of Prague Castle since the 1960s. Václav Beránek has been the head of the culture department at the Prague Castle Administration for several years now, which has now decided to demolish the house. The cost of removing the building is estimated at 18 million CZK.