Opponents of the method of repairing Charles Bridge want it to be expropriated

Prague - Opponents of the repair methods of Charles Bridge want the state to expropriate this monument. The capital city of Prague, which owns the bridge, is supposedly unable to effectively protect it, said Martin Kadrman, vice president of the Association for the Protection and Development of Cultural Heritage, to journalists today. The Association claims that by replacing parts of the stones in the railing, the bridge is being destroyed, and some historically valuable stone blocks have allegedly gone missing. The city hall sharply rejected this statement.
    "Because the owner is not taking proper care of this monument and allows its destruction, we assume, and are convinced, that the motion for expropriation is justified," said Kadrman.
    "I absolutely have no words. It is a gross insult to all Prague residents," said Jan Kněžínek, director of the heritage department of the city hall, regarding the statement. According to him, the bridge belongs to the people of Prague. He emphasized that its repair is financed by the capital from its own resources. "We requested assistance, but the state didn’t provide even a koruna for this," he added.
    The Association also filed a criminal complaint today regarding the alleged chaos in the records of stones removed from the railing of Charles Bridge. They claim that the records of the physical destruction of irreparably damaged stones are missing numbers of some stone blocks, which, according to the company conducting the repairs, were designated for destruction.
    The repair of Charles Bridge has been underway for over two years, and the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture has criticized the work. According to them, more stone blocks have been replaced than recommended by the survey. The inspectors were also displeased with the way the stones in the bridge's railing were processed.
    The National Heritage Institute found during an inspection in the storage of stones removed from Charles Bridge that there are also blocks in good condition present in it. Only damaged stones that cannot be returned to the bridge structure are supposed to be taken to the storage. The Institute will strive to ensure that usable stones are returned to those parts of the bridge that are still awaiting restoration.
    The current stage of the bridge's reconstruction is expected to finish in the middle of this year, but it will probably be extended. Following this will be the reconstruction of the bridge's shell and vaults. Builders plan to start this only in 2013, as they are waiting for the opening of the sandstone quarry used in the construction of Charles Bridge. The same stone is not mined anywhere else in the Czech Republic.