Veliaj, together with some actors, inspects the works at Teatri i Ri: Karabinaja almost next year
2024-08-03 12:24:20
TiranaPost
Work on the New Theater is progressing at a good pace, and the construction of the carabiner is expected to be completed by 2025. The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, accompanied by actors Alfred Trebicka, Artan Imami, Arben Derhemi, Eni Jani, etc., inspected the works for the completion of the new building and announced that work will continue in parallel to provide the necessary equipment for the operation of the theater.
"This has been a very, very complex, highly debated, highly politicized project, but every crisis is also an opportunity. Opportunity to improve it, opportunity to clarify it better, even opportunity to verify that the project is happening. I'm glad that we didn't give up even one cm2 of the theater's land; I'm glad that we didn't even give in to the proposal to take him to the "River Bank", as some said. This is an investment for the next 100 years, so I can't wait that within the next year we will have finished the carabiner, meanwhile in parallel we will start with the second lot, we will open the competition for technological, engineering, audio, video, phone, metal facade equipment , glass facade; that is, the whole part of the concrete form that is the symbolic curtain captured by the stage", explained Veliaj.
He was enthusiastic about the fact that the biggest work of laying the foundations has been completed. "I am very enthusiastic about the way we proceeded with all the works at Teatri i Ri. Here we went down to floor -1, where we did the biggest work, but it is also the most complicated work. Even in public affairs, as in the theater, what happens behind the scenes is the most difficult work. This was an area where there were no foundations. When we opened the foundations of the new theater we discovered that there were underground tunnels, while the old theater itself had no foundations. The tunnel was not interrupted anywhere, but went beyond the surface of the theater. What is gone is gone. Fatigue, hysteria, arguments are gone. Now it's time to work. We are committed to get to the zero level as soon as possible, while the building is many times easier", underlined the mayor.
Veliaj also stopped at the underground parking lot, which he said will have 100 parking spaces. "The underground car park will have about 100 parking spaces for staff and artists, who have no reason to ask for parking on hot days like today. The convenience of being able to park at the workplace, on the ground floor, 1 and 2, is a great convenience. Plus it is an opportunity for the theater to earn income. Today, art is subsidized, as everywhere in the world, but we are in a situation where some public projects must also make economic sense. "Skënderbej" square has washed itself only with the money from the underground parking lot. "New Boulevard" is paying off the loan with the money from the underground parking lot. An economic factor like the parking lot can help actors and institutions working here; whoever has the opportunity, should come and pay and that income will go to the theater", he said.
The mayor added that despite the politicization of the construction of the new building, the theater has not lost an inch of land. According to him, this theater is an investment for the next 100 years.
"Thank you very much for the trust, but also for the criticism. We did not join because we all agreed, but we joined initially because we had different opinions and finding a common medium, where practically the insistence of the actors for floor -1, to have the parking lot, and access from the main road, not only a pedestrian access, but also for cars, are things that improved the project. When there is sound criticism, I believe we find the language. When this is done out of anger, to block, and politics gets in the way, then it is a spectacular waste of time, as these last 30 years have been. We will try to do in 30 months, what we lost in 30 years", emphasized Veliaj.
