Prague – During the repair of the Industrial Palace at the Exhibition Center in Prague's Bubenč, workers complete the excavation work and the base plate of the burned-out wing of the palace. The boreholes for the heat pumps are finished and the channels for the technology distribution are being built. Workers are preparing to repair steel structures. Representatives of the city, its company Výstaviště Praha and construction workers told journalists today. The complete reconstruction of the palace began a year ago and will last until 2025. The costs of the restoration are expected to be approximately 2.64 billion crowns. The wing of the palace burned down in October 2008.
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Photo gallery: Restoration of the Industrial Palace in Prague
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Machines and builders have completed the boreholes for the heat pumps in the left wing pit. In its first part, workers are already building the foundations, and in the second part, they are finishing the underpinning of the foundations of the central hall and its foyer. The western part of the basement of the entrance foyer had to be removed due to its poor condition and will be rebuilt. In the central hall towards the burned out wing, workers partially dismantled the historic stained glass windows, which are in very poor condition due to the fire.
In the central hall, technological channels occupying roughly a quarter of the area are also being completely repaired. “Due to previous technological indiscipline, their condition is unsuitable for the planned load of the exhibition space, therefore their ceilings had to be demolished and will be rebuilt with a sufficient amount of reinforcement,” said David Čech, project manager from Metrostav DIZ, which leads a consortium of companies repairing the palace. At the same time, reinforced concrete collectors are being created in the preserved wing for the future connection of the northern and southern parts of the palace with technical distribution systems. Roughly, one third of the stucco facades are finished.
Experts are now preparing to repair the steel structure of the central hall and the preserved wing, their turrets and clock tower. During the rebuilding in the 1950s, a large part of the structures was covered and the additions are now being demolished. “After it is made available, the structure is roughly blasted and we are evaluating its current condition. It is already clear that parts need to be reinforced in some places, while in other places whole new elements will be added to increase the load-bearing capacity, on which we will then weld rivets in order to maintain the original appearance of the structure. The work will then be completed with a final coating in an olive gray shade,” said Čech.
Efforts to restore the palace have been accompanied by problems in the past. Among other things, the city sued for insurance money after the wing burned down. In 2018, the representatives of Prague decided to put out a contract, only to be canceled by the former management in October 2019, as it was put out incorrectly. The repair was thus delayed again.
The palace was built on the occasion of the Jubilee Land Exhibition in 1891 according to the design of the architect Bedřich Munzberger. From the beginning, it was used to host exhibitions and other cultural events, even though it was originally supposed to be a temporary building. Between 1952 and 1954, the communist government decided to change its function and had the main hall of the palace rebuilt into a social and dance hall. Its name was also changed to Sjezdový palác, which was part of the former Julio Fučík Park of Culture and Recreation.
