Ostrava wants money for a concert hall from the region and the ministry

Ostrava - Funding for a new concert hall in Ostrava, which is estimated to cost around 1.45 billion crowns, could involve not only the city but also the Ministry of Culture and the Moravian-Silesian Region. Mayor Tomáš Macura (ANO) told reporters today. The concert hall will be an extension of the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava, the home of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. The construction of the hall also includes its renovation.

"I consider the concert hall to be one of the flagship projects of the city. We definitely don’t just want to talk about it; we want to make this event happen. We are working on its preparation," said Macura. According to him, the city is finalizing the preparation of competition conditions for announcing an open architectural competition. The competition could be announced this autumn, and construction of the concert hall could begin at the end of 2018.

The city, together with the region and the Ministry of Culture, has agreed on joint funding for the construction of three significant buildings in the region; in addition to the concert hall, these include an extension of the Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava and the new construction of the Moravian-Silesian Scientific Library.

According to Macura, although the costs for the concert hall are considerable, the city is in a good financial situation and believes that it will be able to construct the hall even if one of the other partners drops out. Macura stated that the Ministry of Culture is inclined towards financing, but on the condition that it receives funds from the Ministry of Culture. "So now it is our joint task with the governor to convince the Minister of Finance to make this happen as much as possible," said Macura. With regard to the level of indebtedness, the city might also consider borrowing for the construction.

The city is trying to draw inspiration from similar buildings in Katowice and Dresden, particularly wanting the hall to have excellent technical facilities and top-notch acoustics.

"We want to clearly prioritize the acoustics and do not want to make any compromises regarding it. There are only a few world studies that deal with the acoustics of such halls. What we are intensively exploring is whether to create an acoustically perfect model first and then enclose it with a shell; in that case, one might have to slightly compromise on the architectural requirements," said Macura. Personally, he prefers this option over addressing functional acoustics after having an architecturally unique building.