The cultural center in the Vršovice cinema Vzlet could open in the spring

Prague – A new cultural center in the renovated building of the former Vzlet cinema in Vršovice, Prague, is expected to open in the spring of next year. The operators of the future center, which were selected based on a public competition by Prague 10, announced this in a press release. The operators are the Vosto5 theater, the Collegium 1704 baroque orchestra, and the Vršovice Pilot Cinema. The building is owned by the municipal district, which had it renovated after lengthy complications in previous years.

The center's operators were chosen by the city hall at the end of October last year, and the building is currently being adapted. The future operators raised about 300,000 crowns for the adaptations through a crowdfunding campaign that will last until mid-December.

According to theater producer and Vosto5 member Petr Prokop, who will lead the new Vzlet cinema, the center would also appreciate further contributions for technical equipment. "Today's theater, but actually all live arts including music, largely depends on the use of expensive stage technologies such as lighting and sound equipment or video installations," he stated.

The Vzlet cinema will offer, for example, theatrical performances by the Vosto5 theater and other performers, concerts of classical and other music, including works by the co-founder of Collegium 1704, festivals, projects focused on artistic education, social and cultural events, conferences, or projects in public spaces.

The reconstruction of the cinema at the corner of Dutch and Norwegian streets near Heroldovy sady faced problems and has been under discussion since 2008. At that time, architect and scenographer Michael Klang had signed a lease with the city hall, committing to renovate it in exchange for 15 years of free rent. However, after several years, he ran out of money for repairs, and the city hall terminated his contract at the end of 2012. Despite disputes in the then coalition, the completion of the reconstruction was eventually approved in 2018.

The cinema building was established in the early 20th century in the art deco style as a Sokol cinema and a place for Sokol gatherings. Until the mid-1970s, the building functioned as a cinema (Bio Vzlet) and was later used as a storage facility for the Film Archive. After 1989, the building came into the ownership of the capital city, which entrusted it to the management of the tenth municipal district after the turn of the millennium.