Renovation and Rehabilitation of St. James’ Church in Kutná Hora

Press release on the start of construction works (February 13, 2015)

RENOVATION AND REHABILITATION
OF THE TOWERS AND THE WESTERN FACADE
OF THE ST. JAMES’ CHURCH IN KUTNÁ HORA

The north tower of the St. James’ Church in Kutná Hora has been in the state of disrepair for several years and lately has started to pose a significant threat even to its immediate surroundings. Since 2010, the owner of the Church, the Roman Catholic Parish, Archdeanery Kutná Hora has been looking for a way to deal with this situation and seeking to accomplish a complex renovation of this important dominant feature of the city. Thanks to a subsidy from public funds, which has been allocated to the archdeanery in January this year, the renovation of the outer surface of the towers and the western façade of the St. James’ Church will start during February. The construction works will be completed in March 2016 at the latest.

Resources for renovation will be drawn from the Financial mechanism 2009 – 2014 of the European economic area grant, programme CZ06 – Kulturní dědictví a současné umění/Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Art, a priority area 16 focused on cultural heritage. The total estimated expenditure on the implementation of the project called Obnova a rehabilitace kostela sv. Jakuba v Kutné Hoře – památce UNESCO/Renovation and Rehabilitation of St James’ Church in UNESCO World Heritage Site Kutná Hora is 36 496 106 CZK. The subsidy has been granted in the amount of 29 196 000 CZK, which is 80% of the total expected expenditure. The remaining costs will be covered by the monument owner’s own share.

The partner of the project is the Association of Church Employers/Kirkelig arbidsgiver-og interesseorganisasjon (KA), a Norwegian non-governmental, non-profit organization that represents church legal entities before the State, including central, regional, municipal and local organizations. The Association deals with the government about the major issues of the functioning of church institutions, their support from the state budget, tax policy, their share of the education system, social and cultural politics and the like. It has delegated authority in representing church institutions even during major foreign activities. During the 2013 and 2014, the Roman Catholic Parish – Archdeanery Kutná Hora had been discussing the partnership with the Association’s Director of the Department for church monuments and buildings, Oddbjørn Sørmoen, in cooperation with other Czech partnership candidates, the municipality Horní Maršov and Roman Catholic Parish of the St. James’ Church in Brno. One of the long-term projects of the KA is making church monuments accessible to people with reduced mobility and perception. As part of the partnership cooperation, the KA experts will visit the monuments in Kutná Hora, Horní Maršov and Brno in order to inspect and evaluate their accessibility. The results of this evaluation will be presented during a joint seminar, where the ways of the Norwegian Church organizations for making such specific monuments accessible for disabled visitors will be introduced. The seminar is intended for, in particular, representatives of church organizations, employees of the National Heritage Institute, students of selected subjects and representatives of the state administration and self-government. Construction documents of the revitalization have been prepared by Inreco, spol. s r. o. company under the supervision of Mr. Petr Rohlíček. The winner of the tender for the general contractor of construction works is a Prague company Avers, spol. s r. o. The construction works have been prepared and will begin to take place once the contract between the owner and the contractor of the works will be signed. The scheduled date of signature is the middle of the February.

The project includes restoration works of the tower masonry, stone elements of ledges, window tracery and the western portal. The wooden panels of openings will be reconditioned (window blinds, windows and doors) as well. Subject of the revitalization are also stained glass windows located in the appropriate section of the Church. The clockwork and clock faces of the tower clocks will also be renovated.

During the construction works the scaffolding and construction equipment will be installed in the immediate vicinity of the towers and the western façade of the St. James’ Church. The traffic and movement of people around the construction will be regulated according to these facts. The church services will not be affected by the renovation and the church will be open to visitors, similarly to last year, during the period from June to September 2015.

A Holy Mass will be celebrated on the intention of a successful progress of the repairs directly in the St. James’ Church, which everyone interested in the church and its renovation is invited to join. The service will remind us of the church significance as well as the importance of our work related to its repairs. The Holy Mass will be celebrated on the feast of St. Joseph, a patron saint of all workers and craftsmen, on Thursday, 19th of March at 6 p.m.

February 13, 2015

Ing. Soňa Telecká