Theatre setback for big business actors

The Hanoi Opera House is an iconic landmark

Last week, Viettel Corporation, Hoa Phat Corporation, Asia Commercial Bank and Hoa Phat-A Chau Real Estate Company sent a proposal to the Hanoi People’s Committee to invest between VND3 and 5 trillion ($158 to $263 million) in the Thang Long Theatre in the Tay Ho Tay urban area.

In exchange, these companies wanted the right to use 600 hectares in Dong Anh district, north of the Red River, for an urban development, to recover their investment costs. A source from Hanoi People’s Committee’s Urban Department told VIR that it had received the proposal, however, it faced many difficulties.

The source said the project’s final investment had not been fixed because the architecture was still being studied and the amount of capital under the build-transfer model was unclear. Also, Hanoi’s master plan had not been approved by the prime minister, so no decisions could be made over the Dong Anh area.

“The proposal from investors to take the project in the form of build-transfer is good, because it will save the city’s budget. However, we can’t consider anything right now, because the project is already on track and it will take time to change it away from its current plan,” she added.

VIR learned that the committee had planned to set up the Thang Long Theatre using the city’s budget, at an estimated cost of around VND2.4 trillion ($126 million).

As of last week, land clearance and compensation for the project were underway and a groundbreaking ceremony would happen before October, to celebrate the 1,000-year anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.
The Thang Long Theatre location has been changed three times since the idea originated three years ago.

In 2007 the theatre was set to be built in Tu Liem district’s Me Tri commune, near the National Convention Centre and Hanoi Museum. However, one year later the committee decided to move the theatre to Quang An commune, Tay Ho district, and the former site was earmarked for a hotel project.

Last year, the developers of Tay Ho Tay township project committed to hand over a piece of land to the committee for public construction, and the theatre was once again moved to the 25ha site in the Tay Ho Tay urban area. The theatre is designed to have different functions, with an area for classical concerts, traditional music and traditional arts, with open air arts and room for large-scale public events.

Currently, the nation’s biggest theatre is the Hanoi Opera House, which is a single building set up during the French colonial, with only 900 seats.