They called on Culture Minister Vaclav Jehlicka (KDU-CSL) and Prague Mayor Pavel Bem (senior ruling Civic Democrats, ODS) to reconsider the decision concerning the building of the library at Letna. After a government meeting on Wednesday, Jehlicka announced that the project of a new building for the NK by Czech-born English architect Jan Kaplicky would not be implemented. He said the new building that has become to be known as a blob or Czech National Film Archive to have new building ...
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They concerns the land at Letna, the funding of the construction and the regularity of the contest won by Kaplicky's design. "The KDU-CSL Prague branch supports the position and activities of Jezek aimed at constructing the new building for the NK at Letna," the Prague Christian Democrats said in a statement. They called on Jehlicka and Bem to change their positions. Jezek is considering filing a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator from the Prague City Hall. The Prague assembly gave a preliminary agreement with selling necessary land for the construction of the planned new NK building at Prague-Letna in March 2006, but it has not yet fulfilled the still valid resolution. The damage would arise if the library were not built after Kaplicky's design. The preparation of the project, including the international architectural competition cost 30 million crowns. Kaplicky would get another four million crowns if a contract on the implementation of his project did not start by March 2, 2009. Besides, at that time, when 24 months will have passed since the competition results were announced, the deadline by when his copyright is limited will expire, which means that Kaplicky can build the library anywhere else. On Thursday, the Prague City Hall said the ownership of land was not the main reason of the rejection of Kaplicky's project, according to Jehlicka. The Prague City Hall's spokesman Jiri Wolf wrote to CTK on Thursday that the decision on the construction of the National Library was within the power of the Culture Ministry and the government and that Prague was not involved in it an any way. ($1=15.044 Czech crowns)
(Ceske Noviny)
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