The demolition of the Prague Hotel will take half a year
Biting through the concrete and iron of the former “Papaláš” Hotel Prague in Hanspaulka, Prague, on the site of which a park will be built adjacent to the planned Open Gate school of billionaire Petr Kellner, for about six months. If the PPF group manages to get all the necessary stamps, it will start demolition this winter.
“Our goal is to return the area to its original condition before the construction of the hotel,” PPF spokesman Radek Stavěl told reporters. The park, also known as Petsch’s Garden, has been on the grounds on which the hotel dates from the turn of the 1970s and 1980s. The Open Gate school itself is closer to the Hadovka complex, which is next to Evropská Street next to the former Canadian ambassador. These plots, which will be connected by the school complex adjacent to the plot of the Prague hotel, have been owned by PPF for a long time. The hotel itself was bought by the group in June this year.
View aerial shots of the land around the Prague hotel
Various associations have spoken out against the plan to demolish the hotel, according to which it is a culturally valuable building. However, PPF does not agree with this and can rely on expert opinions, among others among the historians of architecture Zdeněk Lukeš or Rostislav Švácha. In addition, large parts of artistic valuables, including golden taps from Leonid Brezhnev’s apartments, disappeared from the hotel under the ownership of the Georgian company Falkon Capital.
Some of the preserved objects, such as some chandeliers and lamps, will be taken over by the Museum of Art and Industry. The museum was not interested in the rest, again mainly chandeliers. A specialized company now dismantles, professionally packs and stores them. The photo documentation and description should enable their subsequent assembly.
It is not yet clear how much Kellner will invest in the entire project. He also does not wish to disclose the amount for which he bought the Hotel Praha. However, it is certain that the demolition of the hotel itself will cost several tens of millions of crowns.