Although we are in the last days of 1403, the construction of the city theater complex, as the country’s most important theater complex and a symbol of Iranian theater, is still pending.
According to Artmag.ir, citing ISNA News Agency, the area surrounding the City Theater Complex, which is located in one of the busiest parts of Tehran, has always been a serious concern not only for the theater family, but also for every citizen interested in the city’s cultural and artistic venues.
In previous years, the undesirable atmosphere around this complex, which resembled a market for hoaxes, was criticized, but this year the main issue is the half-and-half enclosure that has been created around the country’s most important theater building, and worse, it is unclear what will become of this enclosure.
This enclosure was created during the previous government and during the administration of Seyyed Javad Taheri over the City Theater complex.
At that time, it was stated that a enclosure was to be created around the City Theater that would both protect the complex and not isolate it, and it was so that some time later, metal walls were installed around this complex, not only hiding the City Theater from view, but also making access to the complex very difficult due to the presence of only one entrance and exit, which could create serious and even irreparable dangers in dangerous cases such as the possibility of a fire, which has previously occurred at the City Theater.
Although the cultural directors at the time acknowledged all these problems, they stated that these metal walls had to be erected due to the workshop space in the courtyard of the complex and the presence of potholes that could be dangerous for passers-by.
With the establishment of the 14th government and the presence of new cultural directors, the privacy of the city theater became one of the main concerns. But the issue was more complicated than they had anticipated. The project to create the privacy had been stopped for 6 months and its relaunch required the allocation of funds. However, this fall, and at the same time as the 19th Tehran Mobarak Puppet Show Festival was being held, both Nadereh Rezaei, the Deputy Director of Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and Atabek Naderi, the Head of the General Directorate of Performing Arts, stated that they would make every effort to complete part of this privacy simultaneously with the 43rd Fajr Theater Festival, so that at the same time there would be an opportunity to assess the privacy overall and to make travel to and from the city theater easier.
Their plan was to install some of the new blades on a foundation, but this idea was not implemented at that time. Of course, with the addition of two more entrances, some of the problems of visitors to the City Theater Complex were resolved.
In any case, it was with this planning that about 20 meters of the project have been completed. Currently, the budget is being discussed and the contractor is waiting for funding, and if it is injected, the rest of the blades will be built and installed.
It is said that the proposed plan has received all the necessary permits from the municipality, cultural heritage, etc., and the design is such that the City Theater Complex is visible from both the pedestrian and pedestrian perspectives.
In informal conversations, artistic directors state that if the budget is injected, this project will be completed in about 6 months.
However, since there is no guarantee of financing, and on the other hand, the current situation of the City Theater, which is not only unbecoming of this complex but also creates unfavorable conditions in terms of safety, the theater community is ending this year with serious concerns about this complex, and the City Theater case will still be open for next year.
