Restoration of the Masaryk Square 21 house, Jihlava

Project facts

Project promoter:
The statutory city of Jihlava(CZ)
Project Number:
CZ-CULTURE-0053
Status:
Completed
Donor Project Partners:
VESTNORSK FILMSENTER(NO)
Other Project Partners
DOC.DREAM services Ltd.(CZ)
Programme:

Description

The restoration of the house Masarykovo náměstí 21 will consist in its overall rehabilitation. At present, the house is in a very poor technical condition, almost unused, suffering from moisture, static defects, wooden structures are attacked by wood-destroying pests and fungal rot.

The house will be statically secured, windows replaced, a new roof made and the restorers will restore the wall paintings and beamed ceilings. The interior will be modified for the needs of the planned activities, the facade will be repaired.

The building will be barrier-free and a lift will be built. The building will be open to the public and will be used and visited both daily and at exceptional events.

The project includes activities that will give life to the house. The goal is to provide residents and visitors with complex links between the city, houses and their inhabitants, between history and the present. Through exhibitions, lectures, filmmaking and screenings on the social and architectural development of Jihlava, the house will actively serve to rebuild the relationship of residents to its city. The relationship, which has been repeatedly disrupted throughout history until it was fundamentally changed during the 20th century, first by the deportation of a large Jewish community and then by the displacement of the German-speaking, originally majority, population. The current representation of minorities and their involvement will be reflected in many educational and leisure activities.

The building will be operated by a funded organization of the city called Brána Jihlavy (Jihlava Gate) together with a project partner of the Documentary Film Center. These organisations will cooperate in creating if the program scheme, in the areas of education, tourism and business development. The partner from the donor state - Vestnorsk Filmsenter will provide his know-how in the field of the creative industry and will also be involved in the preparation of educational activities.

Summary of project results

The implementation of the project was necessary due to the technical condition of the monument and also due to the intention to offer residents and visitors of the city a new public space with attractive and non-traditional content. A fundamental problem and at the same time a challenge was to balance the requirements of historic preservation and the requirements of modern use of the historic building, which were significantly influenced by archaeological findings during construction.

As part of the implementation of the project, the Project Promoter restored the cultural monument and supplemented it with an extension of the winter garden, the monument is now wheelchairaccessible and an elevated attic was added. The project''s partner and its Documentary Film Centre have a background here, as well as the Jihlava architectural manual, which was created within the project, and its outputs will be presented here to the professional and lay public. At the same time, this activity will be developed continuously and new activities will follow. Thanks to a partner from Norway, the Project Promoter got to know the system of local administration and the way of supporting and developing culture and the audiovisual industry in the region. The Project Promoter developed a business strategy in which the Project Promoter determined the basic axis of operation and development of activities. All these activities are the basis for the further development of the restored monument as well as the development of cultural and social life in the city.

The main outputs of the project are a restored and accessible cultural monument, the Jihlava architectural manual and a developed business strategy. The purpose of the project was fulfilled, i.e. through the revitalization of the cultural monument, educational and cultural activities, the management of cultural heritage is strengthened and improved, and thus the result of the program is fulfilled. End users can engage in a variety of activities, the spectrum of which is gradually expanding.

Summary of bilateral results

The project partners were involved in the planning and design of complementary activities from the very beginning of the project preparation. The mutual cooperation has provided many impulses for the creation and development of activities that will be inthe restored monument. At the same time, the partner on the Czech side ensured the coordination of activities with the Norwegian partner and significantly contributed to the implementation of the programme during mutual exchanges.At the same time, a major advantage of this partnership is that the partner is already an established company with a relatively broad base of visitors to its activities, therefore, by moving its headquarters to the restoredmonument ensures that the building will be visited.The main benefit of the partnership was the sharing of knowledge and experience in the field of audiovisual development industry, which the Czech project partner wants to use for its further activities in the restored monument. At the same time, a great benefit of the bilateral exchange was to get acquainted with the functioning of the local government in Norwegian city of Bergen, their approach to cultural support, restoration of monuments and the way of financing of these activities. During the visit of the Norwegian partner in Jihlava, among others, a documentary film was presented Bergen about the history and present of this city. For the partners and the operators this meeting was very inspiring and they plan to use the experience and suggestions gained in the activities in the restored monument.

Information on the projects funded by the EEA and Norway Grants is provided by the Programme and Fund Operators in the Beneficiary States, who are responsible for the completeness and accuracy of this information.