The new revolving auditorium in Český Krumlov will be built in ten years at the earliest, the South Bohemian Governor Martin Kuba (ODS) told journalists after a government meeting in Vimperk yesterday. The cost could be up to CZK 2 billion. It should be in the former castle gardening. The condition is that the government decides for the construction, Kuba said. The state is facing increased pressure from UNESCO this year to document how it will solve the problem, Culture Minister Martin Baxa (ODS) said. Monuments officers and UNESCO have long criticised the turntable being in the garden.
Kuba mentioned that a more modern auditorium could be built that would meet European standards. “But we have to tell ourselves that it will not be worth it tomorrow or next year. If the government, the South Bohemian Region and the city of České Budějovice decide to do so, it will not be worth it for ten years at the earliest. It is necessary to acquire the land, it is privately owned, we are negotiating with the owners to see if it would be accessible at all,” Kuba said.
The Culture Ministry will announce this year what the new revolving auditorium will look like. The turntable and its location will also likely be discussed in the fall during a UNESCO meeting in Saudi Arabia. Baxa told reporters today. “This year, unfortunately, we are facing increased pressure from UNESCO to document how we are going to address the issue of the revolving auditorium,” the minister said.
Both Baxa and Kuba said they were working with an option that would see the turntable located in the former castle gardens. The director of the South Bohemian Theatre, Lukáš Průdek, and the vice-mayor of Krumlov, Zbyněk Toman (ODS), said in February. Until the new auditorium is ready, the current one should be used in the castle garden. According to the former government’s National Investment Plan for 2020 to 2050, the estimated cost of the new turntable was about CZK 1.5 billion.
“The revolving auditorium is a phenomenon that has an amazing genius loci. The conservationists have renovated the Bellarie and it is harder to reconcile with the operation of the theatre. We are looking for a way to reconcile the operation of the theatre with the fact that the Bellarie is accessible. We need to be able to do that, if we couldn’t do that it would be a big problem. The South Bohemian Region and the City of České Budějovice insist on finding an agreement. We are looking for a solution where the theatre and the conservationists will be able to exist side by side in the long term. It is unacceptable to us that (the auditorium) would be closed in any way until we find that solution,” Kuba said.
České Budějovice, which owns the turntable, has a contract with the conservationists to lease the castle garden until the end of this year. A working group under the culture ministry is discussing the contract for 2024 and how the current turntable will operate at the renovated Bellaria.
Last year, the South Bohemian Theatre attracted 52,469 spectators to the turntable in Krumlov with sales of CZK 43.9 million. This year it will present six titles there from 2 June to 10 September. The Český Krumlov turntable brings the theatre four-fifths of all sales. The South Bohemian theatre includes drama, opera, ballet and the Little Theatre company. This year it has an operating contribution from the city of České Budějovice of almost CZK 154 million. The theatre has been performing in the castle garden in Krumlov since 1958.
Source: CTK
Photo: www.otacivehlediste.cz
