In the renovated Buštěhrad Castle, a museum of Ota Pavel will be established

Buštěhrad (Kladensko) - The dilapidated chateau in Buštěhrad in the Kladno region is expected to undergo repairs after years. The Central Bohemian Region has agreed with the local authorities that it will take ownership of the historical site and seek funding from the European Union for its reconstruction. In the future, various social and cultural events could be held here, and part of the building will be turned into a museum dedicated to the writer Ota Pavel, as stated on the website of the Central Bohemian Regional Office by Governor David Rath (ČSSD).
    According to Rath, the municipality would not have enough money to save the devastated chateau. Repairs are estimated to cost around 200 million crowns, and a significant portion of this investment is expected to be covered by the EU. If everything goes well, the reconstruction could start as early as next year and is expected to take about a year to a year and a half.
    In the future, one wing of the building will serve the needs of the municipal office, while the rest, approximately three-quarters of the building and the entire garden, will belong to the region. Immediately after the transfer of ownership to the region, work will begin on the revitalization of the neglected chateau park so that people can use it as soon as possible. At the same time, a reconstruction project will be developed, and funding from European funds will be sought for it.
    The regional administration wants to create a dance and conference hall in the building, along with a number of lounges. The spaces will be multifunctional - they could host balls, concerts, conferences, training sessions, and exhibitions. "Kladno will gain facilities that are comparable to the level of Prague's Žofín," stated Rath.
    The remaining areas are intended to house the Ota Pavel Museum and a restaurant. There is already one Ota Pavel Museum in Buštěhrad, located on Palackého Street in the ground floor of the house where the writer's family lived during the Protectorate. Visitors can view a variety of photographs, documents, and items related to the life of the famous writer, including his typewriter and a childhood teddy bear. A smaller part of the exhibition is dedicated to the history of Buštěhrad. The museum was opened in the spring of 2002 and is operated by the civic association Buštěhrad for Itself.
    Ota Pavel was born in 1930 in Prague and died in 1973 after 11 years of battling manic-depression. His sports reports and short stories were compiled into the books "Dukla mezi mrakodrapy," "Plná bedna šampaňského," "Pohár od Pánaboha," "Syn celerového krále," and "Pohádka o Raškovi." His memoir prose was later gathered into the books "Jak jsem potkal ryby" and "Smrt krásných srnců."