Call to preserve Vilnius concert and sports palace on Reform Movement anniversary

A public campaign has urged Lithuanian authorities to protect the Vilnius Concert and Sports Palace, arguing the Soviet-era building holds key historical significance for the country’s independence movement, LRT reports.

The initiative, organised by the civic group Tautos forumas (Nation’s Forum) to mark the anniversary of the Lithuanian Reform Movement (Sąjūdis), framed the building’s preservation as a symbolic act. Activists gathered outside the palace on Tuesday, stressing its role as the birthplace of Lithuania’s modern statehood.

“The most meaningful way to honour this historic date is to preserve what we fought for,” said Vytautas Radžvilas, a member of the initiative group. “This building is a masterpiece of brutalist architecture where the newest chapter of Lithuanian history unfolded.”

Fellow activist Gaudentas Aukštikalnis added that the palace hosted the founding congress of Sąjūdis in October 1988, following the movement’s inaugural meeting on 3 June that year. “Without Sąjūdis, we’d still be on our knees—but it was here that the decisive gathering took place,” he said.

The brutalist-style palace, completed in 1971, has faced repeated demolition threats amid urban redevelopment plans. Its advocates argue the structure embodies both architectural value and its pivotal function in Lithuania’s push for independence from Soviet rule in the late 1980s.