The final curtain threatens to fall at Lucerne’s Kleintheater
Published: Wednesday, Jan 17th 2024, 15:20
Updated At: Wednesday, Jan 17th 2024, 15:22
العودة إلى البث المباشر
The Kleintheater in Lucerne, founded by Emil Steinberger, is threatened with closure. The building is to be demolished due to the presence of harmful substances and replaced by a new building, the foundation board announced on Wednesday. There are currently no plans for a theater in the new building.
Lucerne cabaret artist Emil Steinberger founded the Kleintheater beim Bundesplatz in Lucerne in 1967 together with his wife at the time, Maya, because there were hardly any performance opportunities for cabaret in the city. This makes it one of the oldest cabaret theaters in Switzerland.
According to the Foundation Board, the curtain could come down on the 60-year-old theater by the end of 2027 at the latest. The Lucerne Pension Fund (LUPK), the owner of the property, is allowing the lease to expire, it announced. The building is to be demolished and a stage is not planned in the new construction project.
LUPK Managing Director Reto Tarreghetta explained to the Keystone-SDA news agency that the decision to dispense with a theater in the new building is "not final". The LUPK is "in dialog" with the Kleintheater. They are taking a year to examine whether there is a possibility for the Kleintheater to remain.
Favorable rent to date
Tarreghetta cited the pollutant naphthalene found in the building, which was constructed in 1965, as the reason for demolishing it. In the old, depreciated building, the Kleintheater was rented at "very moderate conditions", he said. In the new building, the costs for the theater would be significantly higher.
Tarreghetta assumes that market rents will also rise in the Bundesplatz area due to the planned upgrade. He pointed out that, as a pension fund, LUPK is obliged to achieve a return in line with the market and secure pensions.
According to the LUPK, it is also a risk to build a theater in a building because its existence is not secured in the long term. The ball is now in the small theater's court, said Tarreghetta. It is up to it to show that it can finance the higher costs, for example with the help of subsidies or donations.
The Board of Trustees of the Kleintheater has not yet given up hope that a theater might be possible in the new building. "We are looking at what is possible," Co-President of the Board of Trustees Peter Bucher told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
Bucher described the agreement with the pension fund as good. However, feelers were also being put out for alternative locations. One possibility he mentioned was the conversion of a former cinema or vacant buildings.
IG Kultur Luzern expects politicians to make a commitment to the small theater. The cantonal and city governments must create a sustainable basis for the cabaret theater together with those involved, it said. Otherwise, the regional cultural offering could suffer an "enormous setback".
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