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The decision was taken following the National Construction Control Bureau's report on its latest inspection of the circus building.

While improvements to the building have been taking place on a regular basis, the state could not have invested in the building's safety due to litigation over property rights to the property that has been continuing for twenty years, said Melbarde.

The Construction Control Bureau's Director Peteris Drukis said that, according to the latest inspection of the building, the condition of the circus building had further deteriorated, and now it was not only the external walls that posed threat to the public, but also the building's roof and spectator stands. Hence the decision that the circus must halt operations, with immediate effect.

"The litigation over property rights to the Riga Circus building only concluded this past January, therefore the state could not have made substantial investments in restoration of the building. The infrastructure problems at the Riga Circus are impossible to solve in a few months, which is why the Culture Ministry fully respects and supports the decision of the Construction Control Bureau that the building has to be closed," said Melbarde.

Last September, the Construction Control Bureau said that part of the circus building had to be closed to the public, and ordered renovation of the other part of the building.

As reported, the Construction Control Bureau still believes the Riga Circus building may collapse and should be shut down, the bureau's director Drukis said in an interview with LNT television on Monday.

The Riga Circus has been included in the list of dangerous structures. In September last year the construction safety watchdog allowed the circus to keep functioning only if certain restrictions were observed.

The Riga Circus was built in 1888 and is the oldest circus in the Baltic states. It has the status of a national architectural monument.