Long-awaited construction work began one year ago on a rundown building on Mečová in Brno’s historic city centre. Since then, structural problems have been discovered which required adjustments to the construction works. In addition, the work has uncovered an unexpected large amount of historical decoration, which will now be preserved as a further part of the project.
“While restoring the original beam ceilings, the restorers discovered that the painted decoration had survived. They also uncovered murals in the interior. We decided to preserve both,” explained Deputy Mayor Karin Podivinská.
The restorers have already secured the paintings on the ceilings. Two layers of decorative painting have been preserved, the older probably from the 17th century, the newer one from the 18th. Next, the restorers began to uncover the large wall paintings, comprising decorative paintings of varying quality from the 17th to the 20th century.
Construction work in the building at Mečová 3 began last autumn, and was originally scheduled to last 17 months. The reconstruction includes replacing the roof and wooden trusses, and the creation of new galleries in the courtyard. The aim is to prepare the upper part of the building for use, as only the ground floor is occupied currently. The construction contractor is Wellco Brno, which was contracted to carry out the work for CZK 30.5 million.
More serious static defects discovered during the reconstruction caused the interruption of building works; only restorers are working on the site. The project is now to be adjusted based on the new information. The updated plans, which should be ready in the coming months, will also preserve the newly discovered artistic decoration, with implications for the future use of the building.
“We have a café tenant on the lower floor with a valid contract, but we still have to consider other options for using the rest of the building,” said Podivinská. “According to our experts in heritage conservation, a well-executed restoration of this house could have similar potential to the repair of the so-called Silver House in Jihlava or the town house in Příbor, which are highly valued. In Jihlava, they also managed to combine modern interventions with preserved historically valuable elements.”
In 1777, the building was the birthplace of Vincenc Eduard Milde, Bishop of Litoměřice and Archbishop of Vienna for 20 years. The family later lived on Panenská, which was commemorated with a memorial plaque, now preserved in the museum at Špilberk.
