Budějovice will announce an architectural competition for the Krumlov turntable

České Budějovice - The České Budějovice city hall will announce an architectural competition for a new revolving auditorium in the garden of the Český Krumlov Castle. Jaromír Talíř, the deputy mayor, told ČTK after today's council meeting. The regional city owns the rotating stage and it is operated by the South Bohemian Theatre. Some Czech conservationists and the UNESCO committee have long sought its removal. According to the latest verdict, it should remain in its current form in the garden until 2017.
    "The city council today acknowledged the timeline for the project and, in addition to starting preparatory work for announcing the architectural competition for the revolving stage, also approved the start of work on the project 'Revolving Auditorium as part of the restoration of the Castle Garden in Český Krumlov,' for which funding will be sought from the Ministry of Regional Development from the IROP operational program," said the deputy.
    The city wanted to announce the architectural competition as early as 2011, but the discussions of the task force of the Minister of Culture regarding the fate of the revolving stage were interrupted after personnel changes. New Minister Daniel Herman has resumed them. A few years ago, councilors estimated the costs for the study at more than two million crowns. Last year, there was also anticipation for a verdict from the UNESCO committee on whether the stage could remain in the garden under certain conditions.
    At the end of last year, the city received a binding statement from the regional office, according to which the architectural competition can be initiated on the land where it stands. In January of this year, Herman informed that the UNESCO committee recommended placing the scene outside the castle complex, but a solution with the auditorium inside the garden is also acceptable to them.
    Construction work is expected to start in 2016. The architectural competition will determine the type of revolving stage. Several variants remain in play. It could be a dismantable auditorium or a retractable one, and moving it outside the axis of the baroque garden, further from the belvedere is also being considered.
    The State Castle and Chateau of Český Krumlov, along with the city center, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992. The former leadership of the Ministry of Culture promised UNESCO that the stage would be removed by 2015.
    Over 55 years of performances, more than two million viewers have visited the stage, and hundreds of thousands have previously signed a petition to keep it at its current location.