An Art Nouveau tenement house that stood until recently in Poznań at ul. Roosevelta 8 no longer exists, but city officials have doubts about how the building's owner took care of this monument. As announced by the mayor of the city, Jacek Jaśkowiak, a notification about the possibility of committing a crime was sent to the prosecutor's office.
The Poznań-Grunwald District Prosecutor's Office is to consider the notification of a possible crime committed in the case of the tenement house at ul. Roosevelta 8, which began to threaten to collapse a few weeks ago. The magistrate has already prepared a letter and sent it to the prosecutor's office, Radio Poznań reported.
According to Jacek Maleszka, deputy director at the Office of the Municipal Conservator of Monuments, according to officials, an event threatening the life or health of many people and large-scale property was caused. Moreover, the city hall accuses the owner of the tenement house of neglecting the building, which resulted in partial collapse and the need for quick demolition.
The Act on the protection and care of monuments provides for a penalty of up to 8 years in prison for destroying or damaging a monument.
Already at the end of September, the City Hall announced that it wanted the prosecutor's office to look into the tenement house case. The city authorities emphasized that although monuments are subject to conservation protection under the law, their owner is responsible for their care – regardless of their condition and technical condition.
They wanted to remove the tenement house from the register of monuments
The city recalled that the current owners bought a historic tenement house at ul. Roosevelta 8 in 2005. “It was inhabited at the time and in good condition. Over the following years, its condition gradually deteriorated – although the city consistently called for the monument to be secured and imposed financial penalties. For almost two decades, the office has not received any application for co-financing the renovation of the building,” said the Poznań city hall.
The owners of the tenement house wanted to remove the building from the register of monuments due to its poor technical condition, demolish it and rebuild it in the same shape. Later, a hotel was to be built there.
The owners of the tenement house applied to the Minister of Culture and National Heritage to remove the building from the register of monuments. In 2017, the minister refused to remove it, finding that the building still had architectural and historic values. The owners appealed against this decision. In 2020 Supreme Administrative Court sided with the minister, stating that as long as a building entered in the register of monuments has not lost its historical, artistic or scientific value, it cannot be demolished.
In 2020, the office of the city conservator of monuments (MKZ) ordered the owners to carry out basic works that would protect the valuable tenement house against further destruction. In 2021, the city imposed a fine, which the owners did not pay – they appealed against this decision.
In 2021, the city conservator of monuments notified the prosecutor's office about the possibility of committing a crime consisting of “failure to maintain the monument and its surroundings in the best possible condition, failure to properly protect the facility against progressive destruction, and allowing the technical condition of the building to deteriorate.” The proceedings are ongoing.
In November 2022, the owners were ordered to take action to secure the building – MKZ ordered in particular to secure the northern wall, i.e. the one where the crack was noticed. The owners appealed against the decision again, but again to no avail. The Minister maintained the order to take action in accordance with the MKZ recommendations and extended the deadline for its implementation to August 31, 2024. The owners filed an objection to the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw, which has not yet resolved the case.
Jacek Jaśkowiak on the need to change the law
– What was done to this tenement house is a crime. I also look at this matter through the prism of the need for greater activity of state authorities in the field of legal regulations. The right to property also means obligations, said President Jacek Jaśkowiak. – I believe that in certain situations, when the owner does not fulfill his obligations, expropriation should take place. Here we have been dealing with many years of ignoring the recommendations of the conservator. The investor, through many years of negligence, necessitated the demolition of the building to achieve his business goals. Additionally, in this case, in our opinion, many people were exposed to the risk of loss of health or life. A section of Roosevelt Street also had to be closed for many days, which caused huge traffic problems in the city, he added. The Mayor of Poznań declared that he would strive to introduce such changes in the law. – I intend to talk to parliamentarians about this. We should be able to take care of our heritage, and for this we need tools – in the hands of the Minister of Culture or a conservator of monuments – said the mayor of Poznań. Jacek Jaśkowiak emphasized that a similar issue applies to facilities where it is difficult to contact the owner for years, sometimes decades. – This was the case with the tenement house at ul. Kraszewskiego, where in August there was a fire, explosions and where firefighters died. There should be tools to help straighten out unregulated ownership issues. I reported this problem at the level of the Union of Polish Metropolises, he said.
The mayor admitted that the city does not have a list of buildings in a situation similar to that at ul. Roosevelt. However, he knows of buildings that are in private hands and are architecturally valuable, but are not properly maintained. He pointed out, among others: for the so-called village head's office in Poznań's Łazarz or buildings located at ul. Działyński.
Immediate demolition
Building at ul. Roosevelta 8 was an Art Nouveau gem. It was added to the register of monuments in 1980. In 2015, it was there again – this time as part of a complex of historic tenement houses on this street and an extremely valuable example of Art Nouveau buildings in Poznań. A complex of tenement houses at ul. Roosevelta was built after 1905. It belonged to the complex of houses of the German State Officials' Cooperative, built by the Böhmer and Preul company. All buildings are characterized by excellent architectural solutions, interior functionality, and well-thought-out and rich facade decoration. They are an extremely valuable testimony of old Poznań – and the tenement house at number 8 was the oldest of them.
September 13 this year Cracks and structural changes were noticed on the wall of an abandoned tenement house at 8 Roosevelta Street in Poznań. Due to this situation, over 30 people were evacuated. Changes in public transport were also necessary because there is a track nearby the building.
The District Construction Supervision Inspector issued a decision to demolish the vacant building. Work began on September 19. The building has already been demolished.
Radio Poznań, tvn24.pl, PAP
Main photo source: PAP