Linnahall's €100m makeover to be completed in 2019
Reconstruction of the long-abandoned Linnahall entertainment arena in Tallinn's port area is expected to be completed in 2019 at a total cost exceeding 100 million euros.
"During the past six months, we worked toward making sure how to proceed," said Deputy Mayor Taavi Aas, standing in for the mayor, at a press conference on Tuesday. "I am beginning to hope that the grand house with a grand history will come to life again. We have reached an agreement with the government that we will do it together."
Aas noted that the design stage is the next step.
According to the deputy mayor, the funding of the building had been more or less determined by now. "Around 40 million euros are to come from the coalition agreement," he noted, adding that it was too early to say how that money would reach them. "It is not clear who the partner is — whether it is the Ministry of Culture, Enterprise Estonia, state real estate management company RKAS or someone else." The total cost of the concert hall and conference center is to come in at 80 million euros, of which the state's contribution would be enough to cover approximately half.
Aas said that the design procurement tender is to be announced at the end of this year or beginning of next year, with construction set to begin in 2018 and renovations projected to be completed by 2019.
The entertainment and sports arena known as Linnahall, designed by Estonian architect Raine Karp and boasting a seating capacity of 4,200, was completed in time for the sailing events of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which were hosted in Tallinn. The four-story building has a total enclosed area of 37,000 square meters.
Editor: Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS