Ostrava selected the contractor for the concert hall, offering a price of 2.8 billion CZK

Ostrava - Ostrava has chosen a contractor for the planned reconstruction of the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava and the extension of the concert hall. The winning consortium of companies offered a price of approximately 2.8 billion crowns. Construction could ideally start at the turn of this year and next year, with completion expected in 2027. This was stated to reporters today by Mayor Jan Dohnal (Spolu) and Deputy for Investments Břetislav Riger (Ostravak). The entire project, including equipment and technology, could amount to 4.1 billion crowns.

"The council has decided on the selection of the contractor. I believe there is nothing preventing us from proceeding to the signing of the contract after all the procedures that will now take place," Dohnal stated. Riger specified that the city has now selected the most advantageous offer, but the winner must still provide the original documents that were used to prove qualifications. The contract was won by the consortium of companies IMOS Brno and IPS Třinec.

"They are reputable companies in the market. We had a single criterion which we evaluated in terms of ranking, and that was the overall offered price. Of course, we also had additional requirements for individual participants in the public procurement, which included various technical and qualification requirements," Riger said.

Six companies applied for the competition, one of the bidders was disqualified, thus five offers were evaluated. Before selecting the contractor, the city suspended part of the preparatory phase of the construction, the excavation of the building pit, which some opposition councilors repeatedly disputed. They pointed out that this would unnecessarily prolong the construction. However, according to Dohnal, the deadlines set by the former city management were not realistic. "This is a complex contract. If it didn't go well, and the administration was delayed, it could also happen that there would be an unfinished building standing there for many years," Dohnal believes.

According to the mayor, the city intends to finance the construction with the help of a European Commission grant, a loan from the European Investment Bank, and subsidies from the Ministry of Culture and the Moravian-Silesian Region. "The city is also preparing applications for grants from other possible funding sources and is saving into its purpose fund for financing the concert hall, which currently has 570 million crowns," Dohnal stated. The largest portion will consist of a loan from the European Investment Bank worth two billion crowns, and negotiations with the bank are nearing completion, the mayor said.

The construction of the new concert hall, designed by American architect Steven Holl, is among the most controversial projects in the city. Some councilors have previously criticized the financial demands of the project and the considerable financial burden it poses for the city.

Ostrava presented the design of the concert hall in July 2019 when it announced the results of the largest architectural competition in the city's modern history. The authors of the winning proposal are the studios Steven Holl Architects from New York and Architecture Acts from Prague. The American magazine Architizer ranked the project among the ten most anticipated buildings in the world in 2021. The new complex will be used as a musical, cultural, production, or educational facility and will also serve as the headquarters for the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava.

The concert hall is to have 1,300 seats. The project also includes a theater hall with a capacity of 490 seats, a chamber multifunctional hall with 515 seats, a lecture multifunctional hall with 120 seats, and an educational center with 200 seats. The complex is also to include a recording studio, a restaurant, a café, and other spaces. The city has attempted to build a new hall six times in the past, first in the 1860s, and most recently in 1969.