Country promised 100 million for a new concert hall in Brno

Brno - The project for the construction of a new concert hall in Brno, the so-called Janáček Cultural Center, has taken another important step forward. The council of the South Moravian Region approved a memorandum in which it committed to providing up to 100 million crowns for the preparation and construction of the center in the coming years. This was stated by the spokesman of the regional office, Jan Chmelíček.
    "The council also instructed the South Moravian Region Council to incorporate funding for the preparation and realization of this project into the budget proposals for the years 2011 to 2013," Chmelíček stated.
    Experts estimate the total costs of construction to be up to 1.2 billion crowns. Up to 200 million crowns will come from the Brno budget. Approximately 600 million will be sought by the project's supporters from the state budget, with the remainder from a private investor who will later operate an underground parking lot.
    By approving the memorandum, which contains a clear commitment to financing from the city and regional budgets, the supporters of the Janáček Cultural Center aimed to improve their position in negotiations with the government.
    The new hall is proposed by architects to be built in a gap near Veselá Street in the center of Brno, adjacent to the Besední House, the current headquarters of the Brno Philharmonic, and two large hotels. The project, somewhat simplified to reduce costs, includes a main hall with a capacity of 1,200 to 1,600 seats and an underground parking lot for 372 cars.
    The Brno Philharmonics have been calling for a hall with quality acoustics and sufficient capacity for about 100 years. The artistic community welcomes the progress in negotiations. "Brno lacks a quality hall, so we actually do not even know how our philharmonic sounds," said Alena Štěpánková-Veselá, chairwoman of the Society for the Construction of the Concert Hall, at the traditional meeting of project supporters this December.