Pece in the Vojtěšská Foundry in Kladno have a chance to become a cultural monument

Kladno - The Ministry of Culture is considering a proposal for the Limestone Furnaces in the area of the former Vojtěšská steelworks, also known as Koněv, to become a national cultural monument. The ministry is currently awaiting expert evaluations; after that, it can submit the matter to an evaluation committee. The committee evaluates proposals that require discussion. This was stated to ČTK by a member of the committee and director of the Research Centre for Industrial Heritage at the CTU, Benjamin Fragner.
According to Fragner, the chances that part of the steelworks in the former Poldi area will become a cultural monument are quite substantial. The current owner of the site, the company První železářská Kladno, is also not opposed to it.
"This object is worth saving. Although it has not been preserved in its original form, it has become a certain symbol and moreover has various technical peculiarities," stated Fragner. He recalled that the industrial area in the Lower Vítkovice area, known as Ostrava's Hradčany, has already been declared a national cultural monument.
Eva Dvořáková from the Kladno office of the National Heritage Institute also expressed support for declaring the Koněv steelworks a cultural monument. However, according to Fragner, it is impossible to estimate how long this might take. It could take several years, depending on the recommendations of heritage authorities and agreements with the owners.
According to heritage officials, some property owners resist declaring significant buildings as cultural monuments. They fear an increase in costs for the maintenance and security of such buildings, as well as potential restrictions on their business activities.
According to Jiří Mráček, managing director of První železářská Kladno, this should not pose any problem for the company that owns the Koněv steelworks and part of the surrounding land. "Recently we discussed the whole issue with Mayor Jiránek, and we are ready to partially participate in the financing of the reconstruction of the lime kiln; we are certainly not trying to eliminate the object," he stated.
Mráček indicated that a significant problem could be the considerable devastation of the steelworks over the last two years, during which thieves have taken many metal parts from the steelworks, and no one has succeeded in preventing their continuous damage. The looting of property belonging to various companies operating in the former Poldi area did not cease even after the July tragedy when part of a hall collapsed and buried a group of metal thieves. Two people died, and four ended up in the hospital.
Four shaft lime kilns in the area of the former Vojtěšská steelworks-Koněv were constructed between 1927 and 1929. The first two were gradually put into operation in August and September 1928, and the other two in October 1929. With the expansion of blast furnace operations at the steelworks, the four lime kilns soon became insufficient, and a new kiln had to be built, which was completed in 1940.
The cessation of operation of the lime kilns was related to the halting of raw iron production in Kladno in 1975 when the production of burned lime lost its purpose. At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, the first two kilns designated as No. I and II were demolished. By the beginning of 1997, bridges, elevators, flue pipes, and all machinery were removed from kilns No. III, IV, and V.