Opponents Pressure City Officials over Linnahall Delays
The much-delayed redevelopment of the Tallinn Linnahall entertainment complex, a hulking, concrete structure adjacent the capital's passenger port, has become the object of sharp, public criticism by the opposition Reform faction in the Tallinn City Council.
On September 8, City Council Reform faction leader Õnne Pillak sent an open letter to Taavi Aas, deputy mayor of the Centre Party-controlled city government, demanding that the status of negotiations with the project's US partners be made public.
In August 2010, the city government announced that it had struck a deal with Tallinn Entertainment LLC, a company founded by Ronald S. Lauder, CEO of cosmetics giant Estee Lauder, to develop the facility. However, more than a year later signs of construction have yet to materialize.
The deputy mayor was quoted in a Postimees article on September 12 saying that a new idea has been raised to turn the 1980s-era concert and sports center into an opera house, and hinted at possible collaboration with the National Opera and its director Aivar Mäe.
In a press release issued later that day, Pillak accused Aas of floating the opera house idea to cover up the fact that negotiations with the US investors on the future of the Linnahall had failed.
"The matters concerning the Linnahall development have been confusing from the very beginning when Tallinn triumphantly announced investor interest in that cultural object. Now it is clear that, in fact, the Linnahall investment has been a shady financial scheme with the purpose of obtaining a new state-guaranteed loan for the city," Pillak said.
Originally built for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, which were partly hosted in Tallinn, the sprawling Linnahall functioned as a concert hall, night club and ice skating center before closing in 2009.
Steve Roman