For several years, the Estonian National Opera, which is based at the Estonia Theater in Tallinn, has been pushing to expand the building. Plans for a sizeable – and controversial – extension have already been drawn up.

In March, the Riigikogu's Cultural Affairs Committee submitted to UNESCO a heritage impact assessment of the proposed extension to the Estonia Opera House.

In the document, the Heritage Board said the extension would negatively effect Tallinn's Old Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The agency recommended making the extension smaller or building a new facility elsewhere.

ICOMOS agreed with the agency, saying the extension would set a dangerous precedent and put the World Heritage-listed site at risk.

"ICOMOS fully supports the original heritage impact assessment, which also aligns with the 2024 technical review, and emphasizes that the planned extension of the National Opera should be abandoned because it endangers the authenticity and integrity of the World Heritage-listed site and could set a dangerous precedent for heritage and environmental protection in Estonia," it said in a reply to Estonia's ambassador to UNESCO.

"ICOMOS concludes that if the National Opera cannot meet its needs with more modest modifications that comply with the conditions of the Heritage Board, a new location in Tallinn should be considered," it added.

Tallinn's Old Town has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997 as an example of a well-preserved medieval Northern European trading city.

National Opera: Conclusions are incomplete

Ott Maaten, director general of the National Opera Estonia, said the organization acknowledges UNESCO's decision. However, he added that the analyses and conclusions of the impact assessment are incomplete.

"These shortcomings have been pointed out by both the Riigikogu Cultural Affairs Committee and independent experts in the field. The National Opera Estonia welcomes the proposal from UNESCO headquarters to invite an advisory expert mission from the World Heritage Center and ICOMOS to Tallinn to provide a direct and impartial assessment of the disputed World Heritage area," Maaten said.

ICOMOS said it had been approached by several Estonian institutions, and said a single point of contact should be established. It suggested the Ministry of Culture's cultural heritage department.

Maaten also welcomed this criticism.

"Such an approach helps prevent the dissemination of incomplete and misleading information to international partners and ensures compliance with European standards of good governance and administrative practice, which require that submitted impact assessments and analyses be objective and take into account the positions of all stakeholders," he said.

Estonia Society: Architectural completion should proceed

The Estonia Society does not agree with the ICOMOS assessment either, saying these conclusions cannot be known until proper designs have been drawn up.

Mart Mikk, the head of the group, said the Riigikogu's decision should be the final word and an architectural competition for the extension should go ahead.

He denied that the new building would have any impact on the Old Town, which was one of UNESCO's findings.

Mikk accused ICOMOS of intimidation by threatening to withdraw the UNESCO status.

"Anyone who has even a slight understanding of which sites have previously been removed from the list knows — this is comparable to building a football field on Town Hall Square. That's the kind of reason that gets you delisted," he said.

Mikk also does not believe a smaller structure is feasible, as it requires conditions necessary for acoustics and theatrical performances.

The extension would also stop decision makers from building another object there in the future, which may have a worse impact on the Old Town area.

Tallinn waiting for ministry's position

Tallinn Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning Madle Lippus (SDE) is expecting a clear position from the Ministry of Culture on how to proceed.

"There are various heritage conservation restrictions, nature conservation restrictions and all sorts of other things that need to be resolved," she said.

The official said the ministry's approach is "not dignified" and all parties involved lack a clear understanding. Lippus described the city as "more of a bystander" in the current process.

"This is a national issue, on which the state must take a clear position on how we move forward. The Culture Committee at the Riigikogu has discussed this issue for a long time and has also taken a different position from the Ministry of Culture. Which makes the situation a bit strange," she said.

The city government cannot answer questions when the national parameters have not been set, the deputy mayor added.

She disagreed with the Estonia Society's view of ICOMOS' assessment.  

"An architectural competition is not some abstract task. It has specific starting conditions, and this is why an impact analysis needs to be done before the architectural competition, so that a lot of resources are not spent on something that may not be possible to build later for various reasons," Lippus said.

This article was updated to add comments from Tallinn City Government, the Estonia Society, and the Estonian National Opera.

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