Prague wants to have the zoning decision for the concert hall by 2014

Architectural competition must be international, according to Mayor Svoboda.

Prague - The city leadership would like to have the zoning decision for the construction of a new multifunctional concert hall by the end of 2014. In an interview with ČTK today, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS) said that technical parameters of the building should also be determined within two years. When the hall will start construction, however, will depend on Svoboda's political successors. Since spring, an expert group has been meeting at the city hall regarding the new concert hall, which has identified several locations.
     "We would like to get far enough during our term so that we would be clear about the location where the concert hall could be, what it should look like, what capacity it should have, what quality it should meet, and what additional functions it should have, so that it would be a space that is economically self-sufficient and usable year-round," Svoboda said.
     However, discussing funding is, according to him, premature. Personally, he can imagine, for instance, a combination of private capital with a public fundraising campaign or a PPP (Public Private Partnership) project involving both the private and public sectors. "We are convinced that a funding method will certainly be found. What is crucial is to prepare a great project," he noted. If Prague owned the land and the building, the construction costs would also be significantly reduced.
     The architectural competition must be international, according to Svoboda. One of the requirements for the space will be, for instance, three concert halls (the first for 2,000 spectators, the second for 400, and the third for 150 people), rehearsal rooms, facilities, and sufficiently large areas for intermissions. The technical parameters of the building, which should be precisely specified by 2014, will be addressed by experts in the field of sound.
     According to Svoboda, the concert multifunctional hall must have its permanent symphonic body, while the spaces and facilities should also be rented out to alternative genres. The Mayor did not want to specify which Czech orchestra should be based there. "It should be the best in the Czech Republic," he stated, adding that all current orchestras have reserves compared to foreign competitors.
     Two months ago, experts from the Society for the Construction of a New Concert Hall in Prague identified five locations, most of them owned by the city. Currently, according to the Mayor, the proposal has expanded. According to the minutes from the meeting of the society, locations under consideration include Vítězné náměstí, Sokolovská, Klárov, Těšnov, the Bubny train station, and Špejchar. There was also talk of Štvanice, which is in a flood area, and the area of Wilson's Station. Svoboda personally would like the concert hall to be on the Holešovice waterfront; he believes it is a space that will connect to the city center in the future.
     The Mayor reminded that the current concert halls, Rudolfinum and the Municipal House, only offer capacity for about a thousand people, which does not meet the needs of the capital. Both halls are inadequate in terms of acoustics and comfort for the audience.
     "Prague needs a multifunctional concert hall because it does not have one, unlike any other European capital and even as the only one among significant cities in Europe," he added.