The Municipality of Tirana has opened the competition for the construction of the new National Theatre. The news was announced by the mayor Erion Veliaj during the meeting of the Municipal Council.
Veliaj stated that the competition for the construction of the Theater was postponed due to the price crisis that brought an increase in the products used for construction, such as iron and concrete, postponing the construction of the National Theatre.
"The first decision concerns the reflection of a change in the budget related to the construction of the National Theater. No one expected that the war in Ukraine would bring a total upheaval in the markets, especially in the prices of iron, steel and concrete. Mainly these have the basic elements. That's why it was impossible for us to open an international competition with the prices before the war. So we asked the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance to index the price, that is to index with the prices that are today, because otherwise we run the risk of failing this race and continuing with the contemplation of the battles for the theater, where you know very well that politics and people who have never been to the theater also enter.
We need to reflect the changes in the budget by reflecting today's market prices given how the stock market fared today. This theater issue is very sensitive and people are emotionally involved, some want the new project and some the old. I understand the importance of my duty", said Veliaj.
We recall that after three years of clashes, the National Theater collapsed in the early hours of May 17, 2020. Around 4:30 a.m., dozens of police forces surrounded the empty building to give way to the Territorial Protection Inspectorate who started the razing. of both buildings, the Experimental and the National, legally a complex. The group of artists of the National Theater together with some politicians were escorted for several hours to the police station, but then they were released.