Prague has again limited the lighting of monuments, and is considering turning off the floodlights completely
For the second time this year, Prague has limited the lighting of monuments in the metropolis, which are now lit only until 9:30 p.m. instead of 11:00 p.m. The city also selects those monuments where it would be appropriate to turn off the lights completely in order to save money. He introduced it to Tomáš Jílek, director of the Technology of the City of Prague (THMP) company, which is in charge of lighting. About 140 monuments in Prague are equipped with ceremonial lighting.
For the first time, Prague authorities reduced the lighting time of monuments by two hours in June, and now they have reduced the lighting even more to save money. “This next step to reduce energy consumption will bring cumulative savings in the order of millions of crowns per year,” said capital city councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09). Until 21:30, the monuments have been lit since last Friday.
At the same time, the city is considering turning off the lights completely in some areas. “We were given the task of selecting monuments where it could be turned off completely without affecting the overall lighting of the place where the monument is located,” said Jílek. He added that the administrators of some sacred monuments, in particular, fear that turning off the lights completely would affect security, and that graffiti, for example, appeared.
According to Jílek, the evaluation of the illumination of monuments takes about 14 days. the resulting material with comparative photos will then be delivered by the company to the capital city council, either now during the transition period, or the new one that will emerge from the elections. The city management will then make the final decision not to illuminate the monuments at all.
THMP in the metropolis illuminate almost all important monuments with the name of Prague Castle. This is, for example, the Basilica of St. Ludmily, Strahov Monastery, Loretu, Church of St. Cyril and Methodius in Karlín, Charles Bridge, Rudolfinum or the National Theatre. For major monuments, the company can control the lights remotely, so restrictions can be put in place on the fly. According to Jílek, technical modifications would be necessary for some smaller monuments, because the lights are switched on automatically at the same time as public lighting lamps.