The financial support acquired from the Ministry of Culture shall be used for roof renovation which includes roof framework repairs, thermal insulation and roofing replacement, facade repairs, window replacement, renovation of electrical wiring, water distribution, heating and information systems. TBS, which is officially considered a recipient of a state subsidy, undertook to co-finance the project by using its own or other sources in the amount of over EUR 50,000 of the total budget.
The whole renovation of the Encián building will be permanently supervised by the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic and the Pro Monumenta project. “The roof renovation of the Encián building should begin in May or June. The exact date depends on the permissions regarding the air transport of material which have to be issued by the Tatra National Park. The roof will be made of high-quality material so there should be at least a 100-year-guarantee,” said Patrik Kolesár from TBS.
In the first half of the year, TBS plans to have windows replaced and a lift on the third and fourth floor built. The society has submitted another 1 million Euro project via the Intereg SK/PL programme (Slovak-Polish cross border cooperation), which is being evaluated at the moment. This money should be used for creating three museums – two in Starý Smokovec (Museum of Pope John Paul II and Czaky-ház Museum of the Tatras). The third museum of the Wiesner cable car should be located at Skalnaté Pleso, in the Encián building and serve as a multi-purpose facility inside the station and the engine room of the former cable car, which is ideal for various cultural and social events.
“The story of Encián, the legend of the Tatras began in 2011 and continues also thanks to 2% of taxes offered by TMR employees and the building owner who contributed to the renovation with a total amount of EUR 35,000 (between 2012 and 2016). 2% of taxes transferred by natural persons from the districts of Kežmarok, Poprad and Liptovský Mikuláš guarantee financial support for our society as well,” added Mr. Kolesár.
TBS launched a blog named “Tatra oddments” in 2011 in order to point out the dismal condition of national cultural monuments in the territory of the Town of Vysoké Tatry. Encián was one of them. In the course of 7 years, the society managed to continue with the idea of Dušan Jurkovič and bring Encián to life again. “By using our own financial means and with help of volunteers, we have created a solid centre of art – the highest located Encián Gallery, a reading room of Alfred Grosz, a café, a chapel and a guest house of the Tatra Beautification Society. The outlook tower has been covered with a roofing, the leaking roof has been repaired as a makeshift, new floor has been put in the interior, gutters have been fixed, a new railing has been made and we plan to begin with the roof renovation challenge,” says Patrik Kolesár about the activities of TBS.
Restoration on the occasion of the 75th cable car anniversary
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the second cable car section between Skalnaté Pleso and Mt. Lomnický štít, a special product with guided tours of the old engine room and the cable car station at Skalnaté Pleso (in the technological section of the Encián building) had been prepared by the TMR company. The series of tours were offered during the winter and summer season of the previous year and in the winter season of 2017/18. Unique authentic photos that document the construction works of the cable car that operates to Mt. Lomnický štít and introduce the exceptional nature of this technological rarity are still on display inside Encián.
The takings from the guided tours are meant to finance the documents that are required for organising an ideological-architectonic competition regarding the new use of the original cable car building in Tatranská Lomnica. The lower cable car station was built in 1936-37 and is the last piece of work of architect Dušan Jurkovič, who designed the building in cooperation with the Wiesner company, which supplied technology and built the cable car on Mt. Lomnický štít.
“We are very well aware of the cultural value of this building. We honour history and traditions, want to act responsibly and are considering our next steps carefully. We are constantly working on further development of the resort and our plans have to include this building as well. The revitalisation of the former cable car station building is meant as a complex monument renovation but with a new practical use that would correspond with the requirements of these days. That is why we have initiated the product of the 75 Secrets of a Cable Car – to use the takings for the purpose of necessary research that the monument renovation requires and to organise an architectonic competition if there is an agreement regarding the future use of this building,” explained Dušan Slavkovský from the TMR company, the general manager of the mountain resort of Vysoké Tatry.
The monument research of the original cable car station in Tatranská Lomnica made by the building owner in the spring of 2017 showed that the renovation which TMR had originally planned would not be possible and had to face considerable limitations. The building was supposed to serve as a multi-purpose facility with a restaurant, a museum with a projection screen, a shop and toilets. In order to restore the cable car station at Grandhotel Praha, the building´s safety as for the statics has to be assessed and several documents have to be completed such as a remediation report, a remediation project and a dendrology report of the damaged framework wood. Only then the investor can consider how the facility might be used in future.
History
The national cultural monument of the Encián building located in the area of Skalnaté Pleso (1,751 metres above sea level) was designed by eminent Slovak architect Dušan Jurkovič and built in 1936-1937. In the past, it served as the upper station of the cable car that was operating between Tatranská Lomnica and Skalnaté Pleso and has been used as the lower station of the cable car that operates to Mt. Lomnický štít until today. TBS managed to make the building available to the wide public thanks to the help of volunteers from around Slovakia and since the summer of 2013, Encián has been opened as the highest located gallery in Slovakia. Besides the technological purpose, Encián also featured a restaurant and accommodation facilities above the engine room of the original Wiesner cable car in 1937 and offered 20 beds for tourists. There was also a kitchen with a dining room and a day bar. Since December 1941, the building was used as a lower station of the Mt. Lomnický štít cable car. From 1976, a new cable car was operating between Tatranská Lomnica and Skalnaté Pleso with new station buildings where the facilities from Encián were moved. The hotel section remained empty and in 1999, the cable car between Tatranská Lomnica and Skalnaté Pleso ceased to operate inside the building as well. The active period of Encián, one of four cable car buildings designed by Mr. Jurkovič, as well as of the lower cable car station in Tatranská Lomnica at Grandhotel Praha was thus finished.
The project of the cable car between Tatranská Lomnica and Mt. Lomnický štít itself was considered very ambitious and daring back then. It reflected the prosperity of Czechoslovakia in the 1930s, the advance level of its industry, social ambitions of the country in the field of tourism and the attempt to get closer to the level of the most developed European countries. The name of the main designer – Dušan Jurkovič, who was a renowned Slovak architect at that time, proves how important the cable car was.
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Tatry mountain resorts, a.s. (TMR) is the leader in tourism in Central and Eastern Europe; it owns and operates attractive mountain resorts, amusement parks, restaurant facilities, sports services, shops and hotels. In the Low Tatras TMR owns and operates the resort Jasná Nízke Tatry and hotels Wellness hotel Grand Jasná, Boutique Hotel Tri Studničky, Chalets Jasná De Luxe, Hotel Srdiečko, and Hotel Rotunda. TMR is also the owner of Aquapark Tatralandia, the largest Slovak aquapark with year-round operation, which besides water entertainment includes Tropical Paradise, a special tropical indoor hall with sea water, as well as Fun Park, and accommodation in bungalows and apartments of Holiday Village Tatralandia. In the High Tatras TMR owns and operates the resort Vysoké Tatry with mountain areas of Tatranská Lomnica, Starý Smokovec, and Štrbské Pleso, which TMR co-manages. In the High Tatras TMR also owns hotels Grandhotel Praha Tatranská Lomnica, Grandhotel Starý Smokovec, Hotel FIS Štrbské Pleso and Mountain hotel Hrebienok. TMR also owns a 9.5 % share in Melida, a.s., which leases and operates the resort Špindlerův Mlýn in the Czech Republic. TMR also leases and operates the ski resort Ještěd. In Poland TMR owns a 97% share in the mountain resort Szczyrkowski Ośrodek Narciarski S.A. (SON), a 75% share in a company that owns and operates Silesian Amusement Park (Śląskie Wesołe Miasteczko) and a 7.3% share in an amusementeducational project via the Polish company Korona Ziemi Sp. z.o.o. TMR also owns and leases hotels Slovakia, Kosodrevina, Liptov and Ski&Fun Záhradky a Bungalovy to third parties. By the end of 2016 EUR 230 mil. had been invested into development and modernisation of TMR’s resorts. TMR shares are traded on three European stock exchanges – in Bratislava, Prague, and Warsaw.