Tallinn proposes selling corner plot for academy’s theatre centre

Tallinn City Government has proposed selling a plot at Sakala 19 and Tatari 10 to the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre for a new performing arts education centre, ERR reports. The city council must decide on the proposal.

The plot is across the street from the academy’s property and could form a single complex with its teaching building at Tatari 13. Rector Ivari Ilja said the academy’s theatre education facilities need improvement. A report completed two years ago by MusiQuE, an independent European organisation that assesses and develops the quality of higher music education, highlighted a lack of space and rehearsal rooms for the master’s programme in contemporary performing arts.

Ilja said a modern learning environment could also support music theatre studies by bringing students from different disciplines together and giving them access to contemporary stage technology.

The academy has not decided whether its theatre school, which currently operates in a separate building in Toompea, would move to the new centre. Ilja said the academy would consider possible arrangements with teachers, specialists and architects, taking into account teaching needs, the suitability of buildings, investment costs and long-term maintenance expenses. He said the historic and cultural significance of the Toompea building was important to the academy.

The academy has sought to expand beyond its main building for nearly ten years, Ilja said.

Deputy Mayor Tiit Terik said the building at Sakala 19 has been empty since 2019, while the building at Tatari 10 was in use until February this year. The 939-square-metre property contains two buildings dating from the 19th century and a deteriorated warehouse. None is protected as a heritage building. Terik said there were no restrictions on demolishing the building on the Sakala corner.

The plot is in a central Tallinn mixed-use zone and an archaeologically sensitive area. New construction must take account of the area’s historical layers and the need for surveys. Planning must also consider nearby heritage monuments, valued buildings and a conservation area. Terik said new buildings should not dominate historical features.

On September 23, academy representatives presented an initial development vision to Tallinn’s planning department.