Tallinn mayor cancels study into alternative Estonia extension site

According to ERR, Tallinn Mayor Peeter Raudsepp has ordered the cancellation of a planned heritage protection study for an alternative location for an extension to the Estonia opera house.

Tallinn’s communications service initially announced on Monday that the city had requested bids to prepare special heritage protection conditions for an alternative location. The study was intended to establish the basis for future planning from the perspective of cultural heritage and the historic urban environment.

Deputy Mayor Tiit Terik said the study would allow different spatial solutions for the theatre’s future to be compared, including their suitability for the theatre’s development needs, the urban environment and cultural heritage. The announcement stated that no architectural solution or extension option had yet been selected.

Later, the city issued a statement from Raudsepp saying that Tallinn’s city government had not ordered the study and had not decided that an alternative location was needed. “I have ordered the cancellation of this procurement,” Raudsepp said.

Raudsepp’s office also consulted Estonia National Opera and found that the initiative had not been coordinated with the theatre. He called the action unjustified, saying the city should not spend money on it without a political decision and agreement. Raudsepp said the future of Estonia should be addressed jointly by Tallinn, the state and the opera, beginning with an agreement on which solutions should be analysed and how they should be compared.