Linnahall (Eng. - city hall) is multifunctional culture centre in the middle of Tallinn's Downtown,right at the waterfront in Old Town harbour. It has concert hall with 4200-seats,ice rink & cafeterias. Parts of it have been converted into small ferry terminal & heliport. Linnahall was built in 1980-1981,for 1980 Summer Olympics.

http://uudised.err.ee/failid/213174_01.jpg

Since late 1990s,ziggurat shaped building has been listed by Muinsuskaitseamet / heritage protection agency,as example of 1980's architecture. Since it's construction in 80s,there have been concerns over it's conditions,as poor control and rushed construction resulted inadequate quality.

Floorplans of Linnahall:
http://register.muinas.ee/content/monument/regular/35590.jpg

Aerial photos of Linnahall (by Taevapiltnik.ee ©)
http://www.taevapiltnik.ee/static/body/pildid/pilt_208.jpg

http://www.taevapiltnik.ee/static/body/pildid/pilt_1510.jpg

Few years ago Linnahall was given to American investors who formed company called Tallinn Entertainment LLC. In return they were expected to invest money in Linnahall to reconstruct it to modern venue centre.
In April 2009 Linnahall had it's last public events and since then it has been closed to public.
Tallinn Entertainment LLC promised that Linnahall will be rebuilt for Culture Capitall 2011 season. So far nothing has happened. Investors haven't even created development plans + they refused to meet city officials for a long time + in Hungary and United States several people involved in this project have been arrested and accused in corruption,bribery and tax evasion.

Current state of Linnahall (photos by Delfi.ee,link to full gallery: http://www.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/eesti/fotod-linnahall-laguneb-nii-mis-muhiseb.d?id=55342446) :
http://y.delfi.ee/norm/219561/11858731_kXfltq.jpeg
http://y.delfi.ee/norm/219561/11858751_hL9f36.jpeg
http://y.delfi.ee/norm/219561/11858745_jwsufH.jpeg
http://y.delfi.ee/norm/219561/11858757_hzCRI6.jpeg
http://y.delfi.ee/norm/219561/11858707_YWfzax.jpeg
http://g4.delfi.ee/images/pix/900x585/731984ec/file55343338_4718a039.jpg

Several people and politicians have demanded that city would enforce contract rules to Tallinn Entertainment LLC or would declare contract void,as developer has failed to fulfil it.

So,what will the future of Linnahall be like? Will it eventually get renovated? Or as it has been proposed,it will get demolished?
Given that renovation works can turn out to be a lot more expensive that demolition+construction of new concert hall,is it even necessary to maintain it? Is it's architecture important enough or does it ruin urban landscape? Let's not forget that each year those ~6 million passengers arriving by ferries & cruise ships,get a glimpse at derelict Linnahall. Not to mention that although it has pretty interesting design,it's very badly visible from ground level and people don't get a chance to grasp it's full architectural complexity.

So,let's share thoughts,ideas & visions about it.

Discuss!

Btw,poll is multi-vote poll,so you can select several options if you think that it's necessary. It's difficult to choose between those options ;)

by 'rebuild' do you mean renovate?

by 'rebuild' do you mean renovate?

Ei,pigem sõna otseses mõttes ümberehitust,kuna isegi kõige pisem Linnahalli renoveerimine ei jätaks sellest suurt midagi järele. Kvaliteet (või selle puudumine) tähendaks ilmselt juba vajadust osad kandekonstruktsioonid väljavahetada,et hoone eluiga pikendada.

Either do a major renovation of the building and its immediate surrounding, but do not redesign anything, preserve it as it originally was suppose to be, or tear everything down completely and build something new.

Blow it up.

I was just there a few hours ago with my friends drinking beer :D It's one of the few places in Tallinn where you can drink in public with little fear of being caught because the police simply have no time or will to visit that place. In that sense it's a good public space. Today there was 20-35 people hanging around on the roof and quite a few tourists.
I also like the architectural concept but in every other matter, it's a failure. It's very poorly constructed, the design of the concert hall is flawed etc. I doubt that anyone would be ready to spend € 100 million+ that's needed to reconstruct Linnahall. If nothing's done, it will have to be closed to public all together in a few years since it will simply become too dangerous...and it's only 30 years old.

^^
But it already is closed to public and tbh,it's really unlikely that they open it again :( Given that Linnahall doesn't have enough money for even basic maintenance,building condition will continue to deteriorate and sadly it's VERY possible that building will be declared dangerous soon.

@Galro - lol,that has been actually suggested by few people here :D I guess locals are getting fed up that nothing is happening with Linnahall,while every other neglected place in city gets a makeover or is torn down to make room for new buildings.

^^ I meant closed to public as in the roof and surroundings, not only the interior.

well, we can get some EU funding to restart "traditional culture" and open as "meatmarket"

http://static1.album.ee/files/772/96/large_19324043_GFq4.jpg

http://static1.album.ee/files/772/96/large_19324043_GFq4.jpg
American investors inspecting their property? :D I can't remember harbour area being so sandy...

It's sad that Tallinn is so cut off from the water :(

estonia coverment or tallinn city administrations should be without delay take it back and renovate or rebuild it with original look!

It's sad that Tallinn is so cut off from the water :(
Indeed, it's awful. Looking at this picture...

Aerial photos of Linnahall (by Taevapiltnik.ee ©)
http://www.taevapiltnik.ee/static/body/pildid/pilt_208.jpg

You can see how empty the plot to the right is. It's just a desert. Nothing. This should be prime time real estate and a shining welcome to anyone arriving to Tallinn on a boat. Right now all they see is a distasteful grey mound of concrete and an empty field next to it.

I vote for full demolition. I do not see this monstrosity as having any sort of lasting architectural value. This area has so much potential for awesomeness and I'd love to arrive to Tallinn by sea one day and be greeted by something as nice as Helsinki or Stockholm have to offer.

It's sad that Tallinn is so cut off from the water :(

Ironically, Tallinn is much more a marine city than Klaipėda in Lithuania (if not counting beaches that are near it). In the seaport of my home country the port and majority of port facillities are located near water. Perhaps, only a few quays have been converted into more or less urban spaces, while the most views towards the Curonian lagoon are 'blocked'. The one has to travel quite a long distance to see the lagoon or the Baltic Sea.
In oppinion, the capital city of Estonia is way more open to the sea and that is not hard to notice while walking in it.

You can see how empty the plot to the right is. It's just a desert. Nothing. This should be prime time real estate and a shining welcome to anyone arriving to Tallinn on a boat. Right now all they see is a distasteful grey mound of concrete and an empty field next to it.

Prime real estate IS planned for this empty wasteland. Last summer this was approved there:
http://i769.photobucket.com/albums/xx332/Raudhunt/logitn.jpg

http://www.eareng.ee/public/files/378-378.JPG

As you can see,this housing project would occupy 1/3 of wasteland. Another 1/3 is Tallinn port territory (closed area) In addition to new houses they were planning to open up coastal area and build promenade. Project grind to halt is this spring. Afaik,problems with planned marina and building volume...

:(

I guess CIA had a eyewitness or smth, that Linnahall is close to sadam (read in estonian:). So, the americans invested their green leaves.


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6069/6044831981_8fd7043ceb_b.jpg
bla-bla-bla news said, that a Cape Ciy Hall has become one possibility for a NASA museum due the summer time tourists. There are lots of american tourists who want to have a VAC in ...Florida near Baltic Ocean...
:lol:

:lol:

That is fantastic!

Negotiations with US based investors have stalled,Linnahall continues decaying.

City has openly admitted that negotiations with investors have stalled and it's unknown when or if at all renovations begin.

Source: http://www.tallinnapostimees.ee/697958/labiraakimised-linnahalli-voimaliku-investoriga-venivad/

881k756QhCc

Photos & video by Postimees.ee.
http://f.postimees.ee/f/2012/01/10/908828t54hc0ec.jpg

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Full gallery: http://www.tallinnapostimees.ee/?g=7032&art=697958#263532

It's my favorite building in Tallinn. I think a new use for the existing building must be found (e.g. alko superstore).
If not, it must be left for decay - like a true zikurat.

^^ The problem with leaving it for decay (apart from it being a major eyesore) is that it'll probably soon become structurally dangerous and would have to be closed to public all together. At least at the moment it serves as a public space of some sort.

Than - let's fill it with sands (in state as it is now). And do some landscaping on roof. It would become a garden with strong story below.

Last week's Sirp compiled a timeline for Linnahall. It's interesting reading (sry,article is only in Estonian) which shows how Linnahall moved from being one of Tallinn's landmark buildings to current miserable state of decaying ruin.

Here's the article: http://www.sirp.ee/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14350:tallinna-linnahalli-hiilgus-ja-viletsus&catid=20:arhitektuur&Itemid=25&issue=3385

I would hate to find that Tallinn had become as boring and as ''nice'' as Stockholm and Helsinki. This building sets the city apart from its neighbors and makes it a hell of a lot more interesting.