National Theater to undergo facelift

The National Theater is set to get an expensive facelift to its crumbling facade that will last at least four years, with a projected cost to the taxpayer of 160 million Kč ($8.3 million). The theater has just finished modifications to its stage hydraulic system that cost 72 million Kč.

It took six years for the facade work funding to be approved, according to theater officials, amid criticism that the state is failing to maintain historic buildings.

The Czech Republic has about 40,000 cultural sites registered with the National Heritage Institute, 700 of which are considered to be in danger of partial collapse. Prague is home to 60 of these endangered sites, the institute said.

Documentation for the reconstruction was originally drawn up in 2004, said Miroslav Růžička, the theater's deputy technical director, before pointing an accusatory finger at authorities for the delays.

"I don't believe the state properly handles the upkeep of the National Theater nor other landmark structures," Růžička said. "However, one has to take into account that the current financial situation and tight budgets are contributing to this."

The theater's technical director, Václav Pelouch, said negotiations for funding were brought to the Culture Ministry in 2006 and were stalled until Feb. 24.

However, the Culture Ministry denies there were funding problems.

"As far as I know, there were no problems with funding," Culture Ministry spokesman Jan Cieslar said.

The state of disrepair is all too evident, according to the institute's spokeswoman, Zdeňka Kalová.

"Because of Prague traffic, the facade is also very dirty and needs to be cleaned. The stucco is literally falling onto the balconies and terraces. "

Now that the money has been earmarked by the government, a timeline for the reconstruction has been announced. It will be done in four stages through December 2014.

The first stage will start in June on the northern facade, including work to the balconies and terraces.

Tomio Okamura, vice president of the Association of Czech Travel Agents, agreed that work had to be done to the theater while admitting the sight of scaffolding might disappoint tourists. However, he was concerned about the timing of repair work to Prague's iconic structures.

"Of course, repair work is necessary, but, three years ago, Prague City Hall undertook a two-month upkeep project on the Astronomical Clock at the height of the tourist season in September and October instead of choosing, for example, January or February, the tourist off-season," he said.

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Philip Heijmans can be reached at
pheijmans@praguepost.com