Ostrava breaks ground on new concert hall with help of Czech president

The City of Ostrava marked a significant milestone this weekend with the groundbreaking ceremony for its new concert hall and the comprehensive reconstruction of the House of Culture. The ceremony included the participation of Czech President Petr Pavel and American architect Steven Holl, who designed the new concert hall.

"Music absorbs us. Music can surround us. The new hall is a spiritual gift for the future generation," Holl told reporters at the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, adding that he came up with the concept for the project together with his wife.

"When we started thinking about it six years ago, we thought it would be good for the concert hall to have an entrance from the quiet side of the park," he said, noting the current entrance to the House of Culture is from a busy road. "Finally, we figured out how not to demolish the existing building and create a new structure above it. It will be entered from the park."

The new concert hall is part of a CZK 2.8 billion project, will be an extension of the existing cultural center, which will undergo a full renovation. The European Investment Bank has committed a CZK 2 billion loan for the project, with additional funding from the Moravian-Silesian Region and the state’s Ministry of Culture.

The city has allocated over CZK 500 million CZK from its own resources for the project, and the European Union will provide a non-refundable grant of the same amount from the Fund for a Just Transformation.

President Pavel, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony as well as the Colours of Ostrava music festival this weekend, added that the building was an inspiration not only from an architectural point of view, but also from a technological one.

"I am looking forward to the new Ostrava Philharmonic. I believe that it will be done by the end of my mandate so that I can come to the opening concert," Pavel stated. "It is good to see that Ostrava is not only able to revitalize old buildings that belong to its image, but that it is also able to embark on new projects."

Despite the excitement, the project has faced criticism over its substantial cost. However, Jan Žemla, director of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, defended the investment, stating that culture is crucial for national identity. He emphasized that the new hall, the first of its kind in the Czech Republic in decades, will greatly benefit Ostrava.

Set to be completed by the end of 2027 or early 2028, the new venue will feature 1,300 seats, a 490-seat theater, a 515-seat multifunctional hall, a 120-seat lecture hall, and an education center with 200 seats.

Additional facilities will include a recording studio, restaurant, and café. The opening concert will feature Janáček’s Sinfonietta and a new composition by a contemporary author. The city has a long history of attempts to build a concert hall, dating back to the 1860s and most recently in 1969.