Tartu closes newly opened children’s play centre over safety breaches
Thursday 29th October 2026 on 22:15 in
Estonia
Tartu has ordered a newly opened children’s activity centre to close because it lacked an occupancy permit and breached safety requirements, cancelling more than 70 birthday bookings, ERR reported.
The city halted operations last week at NinjaZone, on Lõõtsa Street, after finding that the centre had opened without a permit despite being told not to use the premises.
Andrus Kõre, head of the Tartu city government’s supervision service, said the building had defects that needed to be fixed before a permit could be issued. The construction project also had to be brought into line with the actual conditions. The city told the owner not to begin operating before receiving the permit, but stopped the activity after learning that the premises were already in use.
NinjaZone asked the city to let it continue operating under restrictions while it addressed the problems. In a written response, the company said operations were suspended until 15 November and work was under way to install a new evacuation door and widen an exit. It hoped to finish the work early the following week and said children would not be allowed in until all requirements were met.
The company said it had not managed to contact the city to discuss next steps. Kõre disputed that account, saying the city received the company’s request two days earlier and would send it instructions that day. He said the city could not make concessions on building supervision requirements when the health and safety of young children were at stake.
Margo Lempu, a safety supervision adviser at the South Rescue Centre of the Estonian Rescue Board, said converting warehouses into entertainment venues was a monthly problem in southern Estonia. Such premises could be turned into clubs, play areas or restaurants, but those uses involve different functions and numbers of people, and adapting a building can be costly.
Lempu said a fire-extinguishing system could not replace an emergency exit. A play area filled with foam and plastic could quickly fill with toxic smoke in a fire. Regulations require everyone to leave a building within six minutes, he said, adding that 50 people would not be able to get out in time if they all had to use one narrow door.