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Melbarde revives idea of new concert hall in Riga

BC, Riga, 26.05.2015.Print version
Minister of Culture in Latvia Dace Melbarde (VL-TB/LNNK), appearing before a Saeima committee today, expressed the viewpoint that the matter of a decent classical music concert hall in Riga must be solved, reports LETA.

The project of concert hall on AB Dambis.

"If there is something that we should be considering, then it's a concert hall – and it must be brand new," Melbarde declared, in turn rejecting the idea of remodeling Congress Center into a concert facility, saying that a new one would be less expensive.

 

Reconstruction of Congress Center would cost about EUR 40 million. To go ahead with the time-worn idea of a concert facility on the AB jetty [Dambis, Daugava left bank], Melbarde said there is "insufficient funding."

 

"I don't see us finding enough money for this project, if already in lats the total costs were about 50 million," she informed, adding that she supports the new facility's being "multi-functional", specifically so it can be used for conferences and conventions.

 

This was in response to a statement by Janis Vucans (ZZS), the chairman of the committee, that Latvia lags behind Estonia in organizing conferences and corporate functions – "because we have no rooms large enough for 4,000-5,000 people. Even a group of 1,500 is problematic."






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