Illustrative photo – On September 14, 2018, the international design team presented the shape of the new Brno concert hall in Brno (for visualization).
Brno – In an open letter, personalities from the cultural life turned to the Brno city management with questions as to why the city is postponing the construction of a new concert hall. According to the signatories, the tender process for the construction contractor could have started more than a year ago. “It fills us with concern that there are unspecified serious obstacles to the continuation of the project,” reads the letter, which is available on the website of the Hall, which does not exist. The municipality's spokesman, Filip Poňuchálek, told ČTK that the procurement documentation needs to be discussed again in the city council after partial changes.
Advertisement'; }
“In the news and publicist media, as well as among the professional and lay public, the topic of building a multifunctional hockey hall at the Exhibition Center is being discussed and there is speculation as to which of the large and strategic projects of the city of Brno must give way to this investment. So we ask : Why hasn't the city announced a tender for the contractor for the construction of the new concert hall yet?” the letter continues.
According to Poňuchálek, the council approved the tender procedure for the selection of the hall's contractor in the second half of last year. However, the next contractor will be the Brno Communications company, at whose initiative there are partial changes in the documentation. At the same time, the city management also wanted to discuss the operating model of the hall with the Brno Philharmonic.
“For such an important project, all possible aspects of its construction and the subsequent functioning of the institution are considered. As for the start of construction, it can begin after the selection of the contractor. The tender documentation must be discussed once more (in view of the changes) in the Brno City Council. the procedure is approved by the council, then it will be possible to call for a tender,” said Poňuchálek.
The initiators of the letter are, for example, music columnist Karla Hofmannová, director of the Meeting Brno festival Petr Kalousek or Pavel Šindelář, manager of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra. The signatories include organist Alena Veselá, who will celebrate her 100th birthday this year and has been fighting for a new hall for decades, as well as director of the Leoš Janáčka Foundation Ludmila Němcová and conductor Tomáš Netopil.
The hall is intended to serve mainly the Brno Philharmonic, which is now housed in the Besední dům, which lacks capacity and is acoustically unsatisfactory. The management of the Philharmonic, however, remains reticent about the open letter. “This is a civic initiative of supporters of the hall. I would not like to comment on its content due to the ongoing negotiations with the Brno City Council. I can only repeat for us that we really need a new hall,” said the director of the Philharmonic, Marie Kučerová.
For The city had previously selected a plot of land in the neighborhood of the Besední dom between Vesela and Besední streets for the construction of the hall. So far, only an underground parking lot has been created there. The hall is supposed to stand above it, but the project is stagnant, so passers-by can only observe the concrete foundation behind the picket fence instead of the construction industry.
“The budget of the city of Brno for this year includes the construction of a new concert hall, and the so-called next years as well. But it will be necessary to update it according to the work schedule, according to the offer of the selected contractor,” added Poňuchálek.
