The restoration of the former synagogue in the town of Jirkov, in northwest Czech Republic near the German border, is under way. As we reported in July, the municipality purchased the dilapidated building in 2016 with the aim of restoring it, and its surrounding grounds, for use as a social and cultural center.
“The synagogue will host exhibitions, concerts and other social events,” City government spokesman Vladimir Vacula told JHE in July. “The area will include landscaped greenery for visitors’ relaxation, and there will be benches and a podium in the garden.”
The small, classicist building, dating from 1847, was used as a warehouse and metal collection center after World War II.
The city’s web site has posted plans for the conversion and says that work should be completed by the end of September. The news site chomutovsky.denik said the cost of the project would be around €300,000.
Already, it said, the area has been cleared of vegetation and post-WW2 construction.
According to chomutovsky.denik, the city will implement a pilot project to document the restoration and conversion works live via a link on the town’s web site.
“In the end we will create a time-lapse video,” it quoted Mayor Darina Kováčová as saying.
(So far the link does not appear — we sill post it when it does)
See a slideshow of photos of the synagogue works on Facebook
Read the Chomutovsky.denik article