New concert hall will open in Salaspils in September

The new cultural venue is preparing to make its mark on the landscape of Latvian culture. Once upon a time, the Soviet-era cultural house "Enerģētiķis" was located here, but now this building has been transformed beyond recognition and is awaiting its opening in mid-September. Salaspils Municipality Council Chairman Raivis Anspaks (New Unity) said: "This was a cultural centre building built in Soviet times, we were faced with a situation where this cultural centre needed to be reconstructed, and then four or six years ago we announced a design competition and obtained a visual image of what this building could be. During the technical design, we realized that it could also be a concert hall. "It has become a well-equipped hall, with the latest technologies available, and this creates a completely different image and content of the building to what has been in Salaspils so far." The Salaspils Concert Hall was built entirely with municipal funds, and the project cost the city more than 18 million euros. LSM.events.bind('PageReady', function () { LSM.articles.prepareVideoWithCover('vc-43582-2026-07-1390234'); });3:41 "There is no European Union funding here, nor any funding from ministries or other sources. The construction costs for the building itself are 9.9 million, while the landscaping, equipment, utilities and everything else in the building and its surroundings are an additional 8 million, including VAT," said the chairman of the Salaspils Municipality Council. Although musicologist Inese Lūsiņa welcomes the fact that a new cultural venue has been created in Pierīga, she doubts that the Salaspils Concert Hall will be a magnet for Riga residents, even though the capital's own plans for a new concert hall remain unrealised. "It seems to me that a cultural country - I would really like to call Latvia a cultural country - cannot lack a proper concert hall for classical music in its capital." The Salaspils Concert Hall has a large for 500 spectators and a small hall with two hundred seats which is named after the poet Knuts Skujenieks. alaspils Culture House Director Valdis Škutāns outlined said the new concert hall will mean local dance groups and choirs can share a single home. Separate seats are also equipped for persons with mobility issues or other disabilities, including persons with hearing impairments, providing the opportunity to enjoy music by connecting to the equipment in specific seats. The opening of the Salaspils Concert Hall will be celebrated for two days – September 18 and 19. Marija Naumova, Linda Leen, the band "Musiqq" and the Vidzeme Chamber Orchestra conducted by Andris Veismanis will take the stage.