In the Hradec granary, a multifunctional cultural center could be created

photo: www.hradeckasypka.cz

Hradec Králové – The reconstruction of the former grain storage facility near the main train station in Hradec Králové could begin next year. The multi-story historic building is to be transformed into a multifunctional cultural center. The estimated costs for the reconstruction are in the tens of millions of Czech crowns. Jakub Matoušek, the managing director of Defekta NDT, which bought the building in the autumn of 2017 from the company Empla, told ČTK about this. Today, there is an open house at the grain storage in Hradec.

"We hope that next year we could start building offices for ourselves. Over the next ten years, we would like to gradually renovate the grain storage floor by floor," Matoušek told ČTK, who envisions that there will be shops on the ground floor, offices above them, and the two upper floors dedicated to culture. "There should be a dance hall and facilities there," Matoušek said.

Currently, work is underway on the project documentation. "We can only make modifications that do not require a building permit. We can start with repairs once the building project is ready. Next year is realistic," Matoušek stated.

The grain storage at the train station was built in 1903 as a four-story building with a basement and a wooden extension. It caught fire 12 years later. It then underwent extensive reconstruction, during which the grain storage received a reinforced concrete extension and an additional floor. "During the construction of the reinforced concrete extension, it was raised by half a floor, utilizing the attic. This resulted in five above-ground floors where grain could be stored. The roof extension accounts for a sixth and seventh floor in the plans. However, the grain storage is essentially five stories tall," Matoušek explained.

The building of the former Cooperative Grain Storage, which is one of the largest structures of its kind built in the first decade of the 20th century in Hradec Králové, is not protected as a monument. The grain storage was commissioned by the Agricultural Storage Cooperative in Hradec Králové and Nechanice, designed by architect Josef Novotný. In the 1990s, the then-owner, the Cerea company, considered turning it into a shopping center, but that did not materialize. The later owner, Empla, contemplated demolishing the building.