Lawyers will address the legality of the competition for the new National Library

Prague - Members of the working team of the National Library today submitted additional questions to a group of legal experts related to the planned construction of a new building according to Jan Kaplický's study. Mayor Pavel Bém (ODS) told reporters after the meeting that detailed visualizations of the library building will also be made, for which plots of land were initially selected in Letná.
    "The questions essentially aim to establish whether the competition was fair, whether everyone had the same conditions, whether there was any wrongdoing, whether the conditions were met or not, and what that means in relation to regular competitions announced under Czech law," said the mayor.
    The Director of the National Library, Vlastimil Ježek, pointed out that today's meeting was very technical. He described the new questions for the lawyers as the most important outcome. Another meeting of the working team will take place on December 20, Ježek announced. He had previously stated that the matter concerning the library should be resolved by Christmas.
    The author of the study, Kaplický, merely noted that no significant changes occurred during today's meeting. He referred to Thursday's meeting of Prague representatives, where the plan will be presented to them. According to Bém, he will speak for about 20 minutes, followed by a discussion.
    Kaplický's study sparked debates immediately after the results of the international architectural competition for the new building were announced. It became apparent that the construction of the library in Letná does not have support from many city representatives.
    Legal, heritage protection, and architectural aspects of the building are being addressed. Lawyers have already agreed that the library can be built in another location in Prague than the originally selected site, provided that the author agrees to the relocation. New visualizations were requested by a group of heritage conservationists. Architects have reportedly stated that the crux of the issues to be resolved lies in the legal domain.
    Mayor Pavel Bém (ODS) had previously stated that it is necessary to address five topics. These are heritage protection, land, zoning plan, adherence to competition rules, and financing of the construction.