Romania's Ministry of Culture plans to build new concert hall in Bucharest, revamp museums

The Romanian Ministry of Culture has recently made public its list of objectives for 2016. One of them focuses on obtaining the necessary funds and start the construction of a new concert hall in Bucharest, with a capacity of 2,000 – 2,400 seats. The Ministry first has to identify a plot of land available downtown and take a loan from the Council of Europe's Development Bank to finance the investment. The Government has to approve the loan before the start of the procurement procedures. The deadline for this objective is June 2016, and the investment has an estimated value of EUR 55 million, without VAT, reports local Hotnews.ro. The Ministry of Culture also plans to get financing and start the procedures for restoring and upgrading the National Museum of Romanian History. The investment is estimated at EUR 90 million, and the deadline is June 2016. Another objective is to obtain the necessary funding and start the restoration and modernization of the Lucian Blaga National Theater in Cluj-Napoca. The deadline in June 2016 and the value of the investment is estimated at EUR 20 million. The Ministry also plans to complete the consolidation and restoration works at the Culture Palace in Iasi, to start revamping the National Peasant Museum in Bucharest, and consolidate and restore the George Enescu Museum – Cantacuzino Palace, the Kalinderu Museum, and the Omnia French Library in Craiova. The other objectives include: changing the organization and functioning rules of the National Film Center, negotiating a new program for the cultural sector within the EEA Financial Mechanism 2015-2020, and presenting the Government a new draft law on cinematography. President speaks about the paradoxes in Romania’s cultural space. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com