Exhibition grounds without fences and with a railway station. Prague puts together a plan
Own stop on the railway line between Masaryk Railway Station and Václav Havel Airport, an area without fences open to circus production and concerts and a more modest reconstruction of the burnt-out Industrial Palace. Costs unknown. The future appearance of the Exhibition Grounds is outlined at the Prague City Hall. It should be completed in October, followed by a public tender for the project. He introduced it to the Deputy Mayor of Prague, Václav Novotný.
Deputy Novotný was originally supposed to submit a proposal for the future design of the Exhibition Center of the City Council as early as September, but according to him, the delay is based on unclear sublease relations. “It is only gradually that we find out what sublease agreements the current tenant of the complex, Incheba, have concluded. This is the source of various relationships that we now have no choice but to resolve, “he said. The city terminated the lease with Incheba at the end of 2014.
Modestly and cheaply
The new look of the Exhibition Grounds should cost the city much less than Prague originally planned, according to how Deputy Novotný has so far presented it in its raw form. The first austerity step was the completion of the July reconstruction of the Industrial Palace in July. The new appearance of the historical monument was to cost more than three billion crowns. The city wants to find a cheaper way to repair the palace that was damaged by fire in 2008.
“I am personally convinced that we can restore the Industrial Palace in very good condition for about a third of these funds. In addition to its primary exhibition function, it will also acquire a multi-purpose character, which was characteristic of it in earlier times, “Novotný told the E15.cz server. According to him, the original plan, which included a pair of sunken exhibition halls, had no real foundation. “The exhibition industry has experienced a certain decline in the last five years – this does not mean that it will disappear, but in its original scope it will not be profiled in the foreseeable future,” Novotný remarked.
In addition, Prague needs to repair, for example, the Marold panorama, which is a protected monument, as well as the Industrial Palace and the Lapidary. Reconstruction of the need and Křižík’s fountain.
The area is currently relatively isolated, so Novotny’s own station at railway line connecting Masaryk railway station with the airport. The exhibition center is facing a lack of parking spaces for visitors. The route to the airport is being prepared by the Railway and Transport Route Administration (SŽDC), which has currently prepared a feasibility study, which, however, according to ČT, deals with variants of connection to the airport via Zličín and Smíchov, and not to the Kladno-Prague route.
Fences down
According to Novotný, fences will be crucial for the Výstaviště complex. He added that for visitors, the area is currently a bit of a fortress. “If they want to visit Marold’s panorama during a walk in Stromovka, or one of the restaurants or another object that he already has in sight, they must make an absurdly and impractical journey through the main gate of the complex,” he said.
According to Novotný, along with the resumption of the operation of the Industrial Palace, the demolition of fences will be even more fundamental, as the city is planning exhibitions, conferences and workshops in the vicinity of the monument. “The fence will be a barrier in that case. But when we demolish it, we will have a hall with 250 seats in the Planetarium at hand. The connection between the Exhibition Grounds and the park is simply offered, and it is illogical to prevent it also from the point of view of safety or site management, which do not pose a major risk or unsolvable difficulties, “he said.
A welcome tourist attraction is the Křižík Fountain (Source: WikimediaCommons)
The Exhibition Center will probably see more significant changes in two years, when the city will end tenders for projects. According to next year, the Novotný municipality does not plan any investments in the complex this year either. According to the daily Dnes, the capital receives 20.8 million crowns a year from Incheba for renting the Exhibition Grounds.
The palace, town hall and aristocracy will not be reconstructed