Plzeň will announce a competition for the supplier of a new theater for 800 million

Plzeň - The city of Plzeň will announce a competition for the contractor for the construction of a new theater at the beginning of next week, the largest construction contract in the Plzeň region. The main criterion will be the offered price; the limit is set at 779 million crowns. Petr Rund (ODS), the technical deputy mayor, said this to ČTK. Including authorized supervision, the amount can rise to 804 million crowns. However, the city hall hopes that the final price will be significantly lower due to the competition among contractors in the construction crisis.
The new building near the central square is expected to open in September 2014. "The city has secured complete financing," said Rund. According to the economic deputy mayor Martin Zrzavecký (ČSSD), the European Investment Bank is ready to finance half of the project. Another over 150 million crowns will come from the Integrated Plan for the Development of the City of Plzeň, and the rest will be provided by the city's own financing, specifically a special fund for co-financing European projects, which currently holds 400 million crowns. The original budget for the theater, over one billion crowns, has been reduced by the city by one-fifth. The council approved a maximum sum for the project of 840 million crowns.
According to Zrzavecký, there is a great interest among contractors in the construction. "The crisis helps cities because the prices for work are significantly decreasing, and the competition is roughly at the level of 60 percent of the projected price," he added. The city hall expects to save up to 20 percent of the limit price.
The new building, whose dominant feature will be a façade reminiscent of a curtain, will have a hall for 500 spectators and a studio stage for 150 people. It will serve for drama, musicals, ballet, and opera. "In addition to one large and one small hall, there will be rehearsal rooms for all theatrical disciplines. In the old theater, artists have only one option to rehearse on stage," said the deputy mayor for culture Eva Herinková (ČSSD). The building will have a restaurant, café, exhibition space, and bookstore. By 2015, when Plzeň will be the European Capital of Culture, the residents of Plzeň should enter with a new venue.