The Municipal Authority today occupies a building that historically has been used for numerous purposes. This three-storey building stands in the footprint of an older structure, suburban in character, built in 1886. It operated as a pub – The White Lamb (U Bílého beránka), later as a café called Amerika. Right up until 1927 the building served its original purpose – providing hospitality. It was then purchased by a district savings bank (Okresní záložna hospodářská) which executed substantial modifications both externally and internally in line with plans drawn by Čeněk Musil.
The neo-Renaissance façade was substituted for a modern frontage with distinctive window surrounds. Originally, the modified building was intended as a passage with a café and shops, instead the ground floor was taken up by an expansive administrative hall, lit from above, a director’s office and conference room; apartments comprised the upper floors. The façade was finished in the Purist spirit, partitioned by colour and the extravagantly moulded cornices. Also appearing is a crowning cornice borne by Musil’s typical half-cylinders.
The façade was reconstructed in 2020.
(GA)
- Jaroslav Mencl, Historická topografie města Jičína: dějiny Jičína (část II) , Jičín 1948–1949, p. 124–127
- Milan Kudyn, Architekt Čeněk Musil a jeho meziválečná tvorba v Jičíně , Olomouc 2006, p. 50–51
- Gabriela Petrová, Eva Chodějovská, Architekt Čeněk Musil, Jičín 2017, p. 78–79
