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National Theater facelift gets under way

Extensive 200 million Kč rehabilitation of landmark could last until 2013

By Kimberly Ashton
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
November 28th, 2007 issue

KURT VINION/THE PRAGUE POST
Firming up the firmament: The building's "crown" will be re-gilded.
KURT VINION/THE PRAGUE POST
The famous trigas will be reinforced.
An extensive renovation of the National Theater has begun to repair decades of damage caused by rain, floods, corrosive pollution and heavy street traffic.
Work on the 126-year-old monument began with the roof Nov. 5. It’s expected to take several years and cost upwards of 200 million Kč.
The first order of business is removing, repairing and re-gilding the “crown” that rests atop the building.
“The materials are tired,” says conservator Petra Straková of the cast-iron, gold-plated ornament that is meant to symbolize the heavens. But the crown’s condition is less than sublime, as stars that top it continue to fall off. Now workers are dismantling the structure in order to reinforce it and gild it with 2 kilograms of gold costing 2 million Kč ($110,497).
After the crown is finished, the roof will be re-tiled and work will start on the theater’s famous trigas, the two statues depicting angels reining in prancing horses that appear to be charging off the roof. During World War II, the bronze statues, which date from 1911, were reinforced with concrete so they could withstand bombings, Straková says. Since then, water has leaked between their bronze plates and caused the concrete inside to break and expand, in turn tearing at the plates. Fixing these statues will cost about 6 million Kč, Straková says.
In contrast with recent media reports, she points out, the massive statues are in no danger of falling or breaking apart and pose no risk to people walking below.
The entire first phase of theater reconstruction, which includes the crown, trigas and roof work, is expected to be finished in 2009 at a cost of 22 million Kč, according to Marcela Žižková, spokeswoman for the Culture Ministry.
Step by step
The second phase will begin next year with work on the theater’s facade. The front section of the building has suffered cracking and is in fact slowly moving toward Národní street as trams and car traffic reverberate meters away. Such shaking even causes the heavy gold and crystal chandeliers in the foyer to quiver. As trams run more frequently and more cars are on the road, the damage to the facade and foyer has accelerated, Straková says.
This restoration phase, which could take as long as five years, involves patching up and re-sanding the facade, and using steel cables to attach the front part of the building, including the foyer, more securely to the main part of the building, which is not moving.
The facade facing Národní street will be repaired first at a cost of 98.6 million Kč, and the Vltava-facing side will follow. This entire phase is expected to cost 162 million Kč, Žižková says.
The third and final stage of reconstruction will start within the next two years and will involve repair work on other statues and on the tunnel system that runs underneath the theater. The tunnels were originally built as a means to ventilate and heat the building, but in 2002 they ushered in Vltava floodwater. This phase should start around 2010 and cost about 39 million Kč, Žižková says.
In good hands
The building’s first major reconstruction took place in 1983, and included the installation of a new heating and air-conditioning system, the rebuilding of the stage and auditorium, and the addition of cellars. But not all of that work was of high quality, and restoration technology has since advanced considerably, Straková says.
In general, however, the National Theater has always been well taken care of, since it occupies such an important place in the nation’s psyche.
It was built from 1868 to 1881 with funds entirely donated by the Czech people and has since served to “represent the national spirit,” Straková says. Its foundation stones come from regions important in national history and mythology.
Shortly before it was scheduled to open it caught fire but was rebuilt — again from civilian funds — within two years.
Since then, the money to maintain the national monument has come from the government. And the work is constant. For example, every year the gold plating in the auditorium has to be repaired or replaced because it is damaged by guests.
Even after the current renovation is completed — a process that will not disrupt any performance schedules — the theater could use some more work. The stage’s ornate curtain needs to be restored and the paintings on the main foyer’s ceiling are cracking because of the traffic reverberations.
“It doesn’t look like it,” Straková says. “But it’s in really bad shape.”
— Hela Balínová and Naďa Černá contributed to this article.

Kimberly Ashton can be reached at kashton@praguepost.com


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