Approved EU grant for the reconstruction of the Kladno theatre

Kladno - The regional council committee approved a grant of up to 145 million crowns for the reconstruction of Kladno's city theater. The selection procedure for the construction contractor should begin as soon as possible, Kladno's magistrate spokesperson Vilém Frček reported to ČTK today.
Kladno has been waiting impatiently for the approval of the grant for some time; according to initial expectations, the reconstruction was supposed to start already in the summer. The theater's plan for this season accounted for this, the actors were preparing for tours and had arranged guest performances at other venues. Because the funds were still not arriving, the city had to postpone the repairs.
Regional officials first returned the relevant request for revision; according to Governor David Rath (ČSSD), reviews from the National Heritage Institute and a building permit were missing, and it allegedly contained inflated items.
Frček stated that the city hall encountered EU tables, which he believes are not very universal. In the list and evaluation of materials that can be used for construction and renovation of buildings with EU funding, they did not account for similarly demanding repairs of historical objects. Given that the city theater is a historical and monument-protected building, it was not always possible to specify the use of the cheapest or standardized materials in the project according to the spokesperson. Therefore, the city revised the grant application to pass the strict approval criteria of the EU, and the changes did not significantly affect the theater.
In the past, there has been speculation that the socialist-controlled region intentionally returns or rejects Kladno's projects. However, Rath denied it. According to him, the grant application for the Kladno theater encountered issues somewhere in the "bureaucratic floor." Previously, the regional authority also rejected Kladno's grant for the construction of a multi-purpose sports hall. However, according to Rath, this decision did not originate from politicians either.
The reconstruction of the city theater, led by architect David Vávra, will involve a complete modernization of the building, an expansion with a café featuring a multifunctional hall, and an alternative stage. The building will be equipped with modern technologies, especially air conditioning, a system for intelligent building management, a security system, new engineering network installations, and mainly modern theater technology. Both the stage and the auditorium will undergo a fundamental transformation. The theater should meet today's standards in terms of comfort requirements for both the audience and the actors.