Plzeň will address five studios regarding the theater, the opposition wants a competition

Plzeň - Plzeň invites five renowned European studios to prepare an architectural study for the construction of a new theater costing 300 million Czech crowns. The proposal was approved at today’s city council meeting, despite some opposition councilors requesting an architectural competition. According to the council's decision, the city will only approach those studios that have previously completed a fully functional theater building. The cost of each study is to be up to one million crowns.
    By inviting only five selected studios, the city hopes to obtain quality proposals within the required price and timeframe, stated Deputy Mayor Marcela Krejsová (ODS). She reminded that Plzeň has not had great success with public architectural competitions so far. The winning designs from the competition for new fountains in the square, the monument to General Patton, or for a new building in place of the demolished house U Zvonu have always sparked lively discussions among the public and in the council; none of these buildings have been constructed, but the fountains should ultimately be realized.
    "If a public architectural competition were to be announced for the new theater building, the whole process would be significantly prolonged and the final cost of the winning project could end up being so high that financing and will could ultimately be absent," Krejsová fears. The city intends to contribute 200 million crowns to the new building, with 100 million crowns promised from the regional office.
    "The construction of a new theater has been discussed for six or seven years; the competition could have been announced long ago," said ČTK opposition councilor Miroslav Brabec from the ČSSD. While the social democrats do want a new theater, they demand a broad competition that could include the approached studios. "Personally, I believe that if Deputy Mayor Krejsová is involved, it will go wrong," asserts Brabec. Opposition councilor Miroslav Zábranský from the Plzeň Alliance also demanded a public competition. According to him, due to issues with the construction of a new library in Prague, the Czech Republic is on the black architectural list, and if Plzeň wants to become the European Capital of Culture in 2015, it should announce a proper competition for the new building.
    The city aims to have a modern theater in place of the currently completely inadequate Komorní Theater built in about five years. The studios that will be approached are from England, Portugal, Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic. The new theater is to have a main hall for 500 spectators, and a variable studio stage for another 200 people is also planned. The building is to include exhibition spaces, boxes, an orchestra pit for 75 musicians, an orchestra rehearsal room, a ballet company rehearsal room, and spaces for alternative theater that would offer modern dramatizations.
    The Komorní Theater is part of the city’s Theater J.K. Tyla.