Točna should remain in the Krumlov Castle Garden until 2023

Cesky Krumlov – The rotating auditorium is expected to remain in the castle garden of Cesky Krumlov until 2023. The new turntable could be located elsewhere than it is now. After a meeting with the Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (CSSD), this was stated today by the Deputy Mayor of České Budějovice, Juraj Thoma (Citizens for Budějovice).

South Bohemian heritage guardians announced last week that in 2020 they would begin a three-year renovation of the Bellarie summer house near the rotating auditorium, estimated to cost around 50 million crowns. They stated that the work in 2021 and 2022 will partially limit the production of the South Bohemian Theatre, mainly afternoon performances. Thoma spoke about the situation today with the General Director of the National Heritage Institute, Naděžda Goryczková, and told ČTK that the theatre's production would not be restricted.

The city of České Budějovice, which owns the turntable, currently has a contract with heritage guardians for the lease of the land in the castle garden until the end of 2020. Representatives of the city and the theatre originally requested that the guardians extend the contract until 2025.

"We agreed that Ms. Director Goryczková would give the instruction to extend the contract until 2023. The renovation of Bellarie should not complicate subsequent seasons (of the theatre)," said Thoma. He added that according to Goryczková, construction technicians would manage the necessary work before or after the theatre season.

Former Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk (CSSD) had previously commissioned the city of České Budějovice to announce an architectural competition for the restoration of the turntable, including facilities at the current location. City representatives, the South Bohemian Theatre, and other parties will meet, as Thoma stated, to amend the competition's requirements. The current condition was that the new auditorium must be where it is now.

"We will take another look at the competition requirements, so that it does not presuppose that the new rotating auditorium must be only and exclusively at the existing location, but could remain somewhere else in the castle garden and in the future (the competition) does not exclude another location (in the garden) or the nearby surroundings," said Thoma.

The reinforced concrete structure of the turntable is over 25 years old, and the theatre's costs for partial repairs are increasing. The Director of the South Bohemian Theatre, Lukáš Průdek, previously told ČTK that the turntable needs renovation worth millions in the coming years. Its facilities are, as he stated, at the level of 1958, when performances began in the castle park.

Průdek has stated several times last year that he prefers a variant where the auditorium would be moved to a so-called theatre wing in the former horticulture. The castle garden would expand to this currently unused space; this option was also favored by the Czech Chamber of Architects. "It is an option that would definitively resolve the dispute between the heritage guardians and the South Bohemian Theatre," Průdek said in June 2018.

The turntable brings four-fifths of the South Bohemian Theatre's revenue, which amounts to 54 million CZK annually. This year, around 96 performances attracted 58,863 spectators to the rotating auditorium, and ticket sales increased by 15 percent compared to the previous season, reaching 43.3 million CZK. Since 1958, 2.4 million visitors have attended the turntable.