Civic association requests that work on Charles Bridge be suspended

A civic association dealing with the restoration of Prague’s Charles Bridge has filed a request with the City Hall to prohibit the company in question from continuing their work. The Association for the Support and Development of Culture Heritage (ASORKD) wants a preliminary measure issued to halt any further restorative work by the company Mott MacDonald until a court process over the matter is complete. The association was formed last year to protest what officials and citizens alike have described as several instances of carelessness on the company’s part. Last year the City of Prague refused to recognise a number of complaints made by the Ministry of Culture showing that the bridge’s restoration was being carried out improperly. Among them, the ministry’s conservationists found that original stone in good condition was being discarded. The association has also pressed charges in the matter and is campaigning for the bridge to be nationalised.