Concert hall planned for Latvian capital
7th Jun 2010
A new concert hall could be on the cards for Riga, the capital of Latvia. The proposed venue will be part of an arts and leisure complex to be built on the outskirts of the city, alongside the 14,500-seat ‘Arena Riga’ stadium.
The project was announced on 28 May by Alexander Kalinovski, president of the Rietumu banking firm, which owns the Arena. According to Kalinovski, a development plan for the area would be drawn up over the coming months and presented to the Riga city council. The design process, appointment of acoustician and building contracts would take between 12 and 18 months following the council’s approval.
Along with the concert hall, Kalinovski hinted the complex would also house a new hockey stadium, shopping mall and tourist centre, but the concert hall would be one of the ‘priority projects’. Neither the budget nor the capacity of the hall were given at the press conference, except that the entire project would run into ‘several millions’.
Rietumu bought the Arena Riga and the end of 2009, from Genadijs Bondariks,who owned 60 per cent of the shares. The arena was built in 2006 to host the Men’s World Ice Hockey Championships of that year. Last year, 129 events took place at the venue.
