The House of Culture in Ústí is celebrating 60 years since its opening, the historic cinema hall will be transformed

Ústí nad Labem - The House of Culture in Ústí nad Labem is celebrating 60 years since its completion and opening to the public. The former Trade Union House of Culture had to give way to the neo-Gothic Schaffner Villa, marking the first post-war demolition of a building in the regional capital. The design and capacity of the facility were determined by standards, resulting in, among other things, a cinema hall for 600 spectators, which is now set to be renovated. The work will include technology upgrades, roof repairs, cladding, and the creation of a space for a theater bar or residential apartments. This was stated by Jan Vítek, head of the program and promotion department at the Cultural Center of Ústí nad Labem, during a guided tour.

The villa of the former director of the Association for Chemical and Metallurgical Production, Max Schaffner, from the 1880s was one of the most splendid buildings demonstrating the city's prosperity. According to Vítek, the demolition had significant symbolic meaning for the regime, representing a severance from aristocratic and western thinking.

The appearance of the House of Culture was based on a standardized norm that addressed capacity, type of spaces, and their utilization according to the size of the catchment area. The architectural competition was won by the project of Jaroslav Láchy and Helena Láchová Skálová. The foundation included representative spaces of a large social hall with a lobby, bars, balconies, and boxes, as well as facilities for performers and technology. The cinema hall includes an orchestra pit and a projection booth with a cutting room. The hall was equipped with modern wall and floor heating.

The central staircase is adorned with statues titled Progress and Thought. "In the 1960s, the most luxurious materials were used, evident in the floors, walls, chandeliers; here we have a giant tapestry titled North Bohemia. Something like this cannot be built today, nor can it be furnished with the best that is available," Vítek stated.

Regular screenings in the cinema hall ended in 2001, owing to the development of multiplexes and digitalization. In 2005, the city bought the premises from the Trade Union of Chemists for 13 million crowns. One building was occupied by the House of Children and Youth, while the rest is managed by the Cultural Center, which also includes the National House and an open-air cinema.

A specially assembled working group led by director Jan Kvasnička secured a grant from the National Recovery Plan for the revitalization of Building B with the cinema hall amounting to 56 million crowns. The city will cover the rest, bringing the total cost to around 75 million crowns. Starting this summer, no events will be held in the hall, and the work is expected to last, according to Vítek, until the end of 2025. "A small experimental stage will replace the smoking area, next to the hall there will be a theater bar, above it a gallery, and at the back residential apartments for artists or performers, which will save us accommodation costs," Vítek announced.

There will be fewer places in the hall, where film screenings are no longer planned, due to audience comfort. "Artists praise the hall's acoustics; we want to preserve its character, color, and ambiance. However, the technology must be updated to meet the standards of the 21st century," said the guide to the facility, who showed interested parties the original projection booth and the civil defense shelter. "We believe we can attract organizers of various conferences, as there is still a lack of a modern hall with super technology in Ústí," Vítek noted.

According to Vítek, other parts of the House of Culture also deserve investment, as the electrical installations in the social hall are nearing the end of their lifespan. "These are enormous costs, but we prefer to take small steps rather than destroying all the beauty that we have here in one fell swoop," he added.