Plzeňský region will establish a center for visual culture at Klenová Castle

Klenová - The Plzeň Region will build a Center for the Support of Visual Culture at its castle and chateau Klenová with tens of millions of crowns. Construction will begin in the coming days and will last up to two years. The region will repair the economic buildings outside the area, which are the only ones ruining the appearance of the place. There will be art workshops and depositories, said the regional councilor for culture Vladislav Vilímec (ODS) to ČTK.

"It is a significant project from the perspective of the entire Klatovsko region; without it, the buildings would succumb to ruin," he stated. According to Vilímec, the Klatovy - Klenová Regional Gallery is already well-known and very visited. It is a center for modern art with both permanent and temporary exhibitions and a smaller depository.

"We received 65 million crowns from IROP (European program) for this, which is a lot," he mentioned. The original costs were estimated in the 2013 project to be about 71 million crowns. The designer has now recalculated the prices and taken into account additional damage to the economic buildings caused by weather. The gallery, which acquired the castle and chateau from the restorer in 1993, has ultimately increased the costs to 106 million crowns, which has already been approved by the councilors. The region, along with the gallery director, proposed allocating a higher amount of money because the councilors would have trouble approving any increase just before the elections.

"With the western circuit and all projects, we see that construction work costs completely different amounts than what the designers calculated from tables in 2013," said deputy governor Marcela Krejsová (ODS). "These are our properties that we still need to repair. And when there is a project that allows for something meaningful to be built there, then thank God that someone is giving us something for it, even if it won't be 85 percent," she stated. According to her, the work will begin very soon, as the contractor with the lowest price has already been selected.

"According to the opened envelopes, 106 million will not be needed, and we will be slightly above the original price," Vilímec said. According to him, there will still be a competition for equipment, which is expected to be a maximum of ten million crowns. "But even with that, we won't reach the 106 million crowns," he added.

The popular castle and chateau Klenová among tourists and artists is located 13 km from Klatovy. The first mention of the castle is from 1287 when it guarded the trade route from Železná Ruda to Bavaria. In the 20th century, until 1951, it was owned by the painter Vilma Vrbová-Kotrbová, who acquired it in restitution after 1989. In her last will, she bequeathed it to the gallery, which has been using the spaces and surroundings of the chateau as an art gallery since 1964.