Regarbing the Cloth Hall
The National Museum in Kraków has been granted EUR 5.2 (zł.20.1) million for a long-planned modernization of its 19th Century Art Gallery, located in the Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) in Kraków's Rynek (Old Town Square). The Museum received 85 percent of the investment from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, which supports projects connected with the protection of European Heritage. The remaining EUR 1.3 (zł.5.03) million came from the museum's budget, supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
According to Janusz Czop, chief conservator of the project, work will start in mid-2007 and is planned to last some 27 months. The gallery's reopening is scheduled for the end of 2009.
"The Sukiennice has been there since the 13th century, but it seems that we are able to find new spaces that can be open to the public. The first example is the terraces, which have never been available, and after the renovation is completed tourists will have a chance to admire the panorama of the Rynek from the top of the Sukiennice," says Czop.
Work will also be done on the roofs, thanks to which more space will be made available. Throughout the whole building the investor will introduce facilities for the disabled and simultaneously improve storage conditions.
"In general the work concerns two areas: one is to emphasize the 19th century character of the exhibition halls, the other includes the introduction of modern multimedia solutions, infrastructure and adapting the building to the needs of the 21st century," says Czop.
