City avoids Charles Bridge fine

Prague City Hall has escaped formal penalties for what an independent review found to be "faulty" renovation work to Charles Bridge that was rife with "serious mistakes."

Repairs on the 15th-century structure began in August 2007 and have been plagued by delays and intrigue from the beginning. After a fine levied for neglect of the UNESCO protected monument was followed by a series of appeals, the Plzeň Regional Authority was tasked by the Culture Ministry to serve as an independent judge of the repair work. In April 2010, they issued a 3.25 million Kč fine to City Hall for damaging the cultural value of Charles Bridge, but another appeal process has allowed the statute of limitation on the case to expire, with City Hall thus averting the penalties.   

"It is of course hard to accept that something drags on for a year without a result until the time expires," Culture Minister Jiří Besser (TOP 09) said. "There is obviously something wrong."

Prague City Councilor for Culture Lukáš Kaucký (Social Democrats, ČSSD) did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

In 2009, City Hall dismissed criticisms of its renovation work - contracted with the firm Mott McDonald - while at the same time fining itself 54,000 Kč for mistakes. This small sum helped spur the independent review by the Plzeň Regional Department for Culture and Heritage.

That body found "serious mistakes including the work being done without respecting traditional methods of stonemasonry, the damaging of stone blocks, excessive discarding of original stones and replacing them with new ones, the use of unsuitable mortar, botched repointing works and the use of modern materials that do not correspond to the national cultural heritage monument," according to a spokeswoman.

At the time, Prague Mayor Pavel Bém (Civic Democrats, ODS) labeled the fine issued by Plzeň officials a "phenomenal mockery."

Preservationists have reacted with "unpleasant surprise" to the Feb. 21 disclosure that City Hall has avoided punishment, said Martin Kadrman, who organized a petition condemning the repair work to Charles Bridge that has drawn more than 43,000 signatures.

"But after all, we are in the Czech Republic, so it's nothing new," he added.

"I have had enough time to lose illusions about the system," Kadrman continued. "I must say I expected more from Minister Besser since he is with TOP 09, who should have had motivation to prevent City Hall from doing whatever it wants. Cases like the Charles Bridge [repairs] happen daily."

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com