The representatives of Pardubice supported the creation of a statue of Jan Kašpar

František Bálek, sculpture of Jan Kašpar

Pardubice - The representatives of Pardubice today approved the creation of a sculpture of aviator Jan Kašpar. The life-sized bronze figure with a giant Blériot propeller and a luminous timeline will stand on Míru Street. The contract will be carried out by sculptor František Bálek and his team. The value of the work is 1.95 million crowns.

In 2013, the city announced an architectural competition, which was won by a 37-meter high column with a wind sleeve designed by Petr Pinkas. Bálek's sculpture was second. The installation of the column would have been complicated, and the cost would have risen from about one million to 2.7 million crowns.

To anchor the column, it would be necessary to dig a 14-meter deep foundation; the newly laid pavement on Míru Street would not withstand the weight of the drilling rig. Maintaining the mast would require ordering a 40-meter high platform. There was a risk of failing to meet EU conditions, which contributed to the street's repair with subsidies, warned the presenter of the report Miroslav Rubeš (ANO).

Therefore, in June two years ago, the representatives halted the project and did not want to announce a new competition. The city settled with architect Pinkas. It paid the winners, who succeeded in the competition, and for the project documentation of Pinkas's column nearly 900,000 crowns.

Local aviators expressed opposition to the column in a petition. In an online poll on the idnes.cz server, people preferred a realistic sculpture. The professional public represented by the Pardubice association Offcity, on the other hand, recently wrote an open letter to the mayor, stating that he should respect basic democratic principles, namely the results of the competition.

After a long debate, 33 members out of 39 supported the proposal, six representatives abstained from voting. František Brendl and Štěpánka Fraňková from the Association for Pardubice, who were in the city's leadership in the previous election period, stated that the city should honor the results of the architectural competition.

Architect Milan Košař (Pardubáci) served on the expert commission and expressed support for the column with the wind sleeve and would prefer it. On the other hand, he pointed out that it is not a good outcome if nothing materializes from the competition. He was also supported by the second member of the evaluation committee, architect and representative Jaroslav Menšík (ANO). He also preferred the column, but voted for Kašpar's sculpture.