Construction is underway on what the Tajik president's official website boasts will be “Central Asia's largest theater.”
Contractor for the first stage (laying foundation and constructing the ground floor) of the project is 6th Construction Company of the China Huanqui Contracting & Engineering Corporation. 314 million somoni have been allocated for implementation of the first stage of the project.
A tender for implementation of the second stage of the project will be announced in spring.
The Directorate for Construction of Government Facilities at President’s Executive Office controls the construction works.
Building owner and building contractor have been exempted from paying taxes. About 680 million somoni have reportedly been allocated for construction of the new theater.
Recall, President Emomali Rahmon laid the theater’s cornerstone on March 17, 2015. The five-story building will abut the National Museum in the flagpole area.
The building will include three large concert halls. The largest is reportedly projected to have a seating capacity of 2,400 and possess necessary world-class features. The two other halls will have seating capacities of 1,024 and 900 respectively.
A total space of the theater will be 7,480 square meters. The theater that will have exhibit and art rooms is expected to host various cultural events.
Once completed, it will expand a list of ambitious projects implemented in Dushanbe. Earlier projects include what was briefly the world’s tallest flagpole, completed in 2011. Tajikistan also claims to have Central Asia’s largest library (completed in 2012), biggest museum (2013) and largest teahouse (2014).
Meanwhile, EurasiaNet.Org reported in April 2015 that Tajikistan does not appear to have an abundance of theatregoers, nor does it need more theaters.
A cashier at Dushanbe’s Abulqosim Lohouti Academic Theater reportedly told EurasiaNet.org that the 500-seat hall is often nearly empty. When school groups come, it is sometimes half full. It is a similar story at other theatres in Dushanbe.
Theatre lovers reportedly say that the end of state subsidies after the fall of the Soviet Union left drama troupes and art schools underfunded.
