The state budget for next year allocates 200 million for the concert hall in Brno

Director of the Brno Philharmonic Marie Kučerová

Brno - The state budget for next year includes 200 million crowns for the construction of the Janáček Cultural Centre in Brno. Over the following two years, the state is expected to provide another 200 million each year, totaling 600 million crowns over three years. Petra Hrušová from the Ministry of Culture's press department wrote this for ČTK. A concert hall with 1,300 seats is expected to be built for approximately 1.3 billion, with the city contributing 600 million and the region 100 million. Construction could begin next year, depending on how the city negotiates with the International Hotel regarding the purchase of the transformer station.

The Chamber of Deputies approved the budget on Wednesday. "The Ministry of Culture applied for 200 million crowns in the draft budget for 2019 within the Support for Development and Renewal of the Material and Technical Base of Regional Cultural Facilities program, which includes the Janáček Cultural Centre in Brno," Hrušová stated.

In the medium-term outlook for 2020 to 2021, 200 million is earmarked each year for the project. "The total state budget participation for the project will amount to 600 million crowns in the years 2019 to 2021," Hrušová added.

However, it is still unclear when construction will start. Deputy Mayor Tomáš Koláčný (Pirates) told ČTK that construction could potentially begin next year, but it may be later. "Design work is ongoing. At the beginning of the year, we will meet with the owners of the International Hotel because we are interested in acquiring their transformer station opposite the future hall. Depending on the negotiations, we will see when construction begins," Koláčný stated.

If the city acquires the transformer station, there will be more space for the area in front of the hall, and consideration may be given to possible expansion of the hall. In such a case, however, it might be necessary to modify the documentation and the issued zoning decision, which could delay the work. The city also dealt with a lawsuit filed against it by architects from the Prague studio M1 architects. The studio previously won a competition for the Janáček Cultural Centre and developed the original design. The continuation of the project was then assigned by the city to Tomasz Konior, who presented the hall in a more voluminous building. According to the lawsuit, the new team of architects deviated so much from the original design that it resulted in a change of the author's work without the consent of the original authors. However, the city will negotiate with the designers from M1. "We are currently proceeding in accordance with the conditions we have," Koláčný added.