The Spirála Theater will be reconstructed for 153.2 million excluding VAT

Prague – The reconstruction of the unused Spirála theater at the Prague Exhibition Grounds will be managed by the firms VW WACHAL, VÁHOSTAV – SK, and GRADIOR TECH. The tender, divided into two parts, was won by the companies due to the lowest bid price. Construction work and the equipping of the space with theatrical technology is expected to cost 153.2 million Czech crowns without VAT. The estimated value of the contract for both parts was 14.2 million crowns without VAT higher. This is evident from the documents related to the public procurement issued by the Prague City Hall.

The construction work will be carried out for 114.7 million crowns without VAT by the consortium of companies VW Wachal and Váhostav – SK. The remaining cost will be for the installation of theatrical technology, which will be provided by Gradior Tech. The builder was selected from ten offers. Gradior Tech applied as the sole contender for the second part of the contract.

After modifications, based on documentation prepared by Key-Tech, a multi-purpose hall should be created in the theater located at the Exhibition Grounds in Prague 7. In the future, the theater hall with an atypical circular floor plan could host, for example, theatrical performances, conferences, and presentations. The capacity of the hall will be reduced from the original approximately 700 seats to 488 seats in the galleries. If needed, an additional 112 mobile chairs will be available. The modifications will also affect the roof of the hall, the stage space, foyer, entrance ramp for spectators, and the facilities for performers, which will also be expanded compared to the current state of the theater spaces. A rehearsal room that has not existed in Spirála until now will be newly created in the basement.

The Spirála theater was established in 1991 by converting the former Panoramic Theater. The cylindrical Panoramic Theater was topped in 1960 with a pipe steel dome designed by Ferdinand Lederer, which is a smaller version of the cover of Pavilion Z at the exhibition grounds in Brno. The dome structure was preserved as a technical and cultural monument during the 1991 reconstruction. The authors of the reconstruction, carried out in 1991, are architects Jindřich Smetana, Jan Louda, Tomáš Kulík, and Zbyšek Stýblo. The operation of the theater was halted by a flood in 2002 that submerged the spaces housing the operational technology and audience facilities.

The city-owned company Výstaviště Praha, which manages the area, invested more than 130 million crowns in renovations in 2019. Among other developments, new sports facilities were created in the lower part of the Exhibition Grounds, and the area was connected with Stromovka. Builders are currently reconstructing the Bohemia restaurant and Křižík Pavilion. This year, the long-planned reconstruction of the Industrial Palace at the Exhibition Grounds and the completion of its burned-out left wing should begin.

The Exhibition Grounds were built in 1891 on the occasion of the Jubilee Provincial Exhibition. The flood in 2002 caused significant damage to the area, and in 2008, the left wing of the Industrial Palace burned down. The company Výstaviště Praha was established in 2015 after the city terminated the lease agreement for the area with the company Incheba.