The Society of Thematic Projects of the Generalitat (SPTCV), which is chaired by the former Elche Politician Antonio Rodes, has said that it is determined to make far more use out of Torrevieja’s International Auditorium.
The organisation says that it is currently putting together a programme of at least 50 activities which will be hosted in the auditorium during the next two years.
Rodes said he intends this spectacular building to fulfil the main reason for which it was originally built: to be the leading centre of cultural activity in the region.
The auditorium, which was built at a cost of 54 million euros, opened in a fanfare of pageantry with the promise that it would become the finest musical centre of excellence in the whole of Eastern Spain. Including a Teaching Conservatory which accommodates 240 students, soundproofed choral and orchestra rooms, a 400 m2 stage with the most modern stage equipment and a theatre that accommodates an audience of 1450 people
Since it was first opened by Trinidad Miró, Valencia’s Regional Minister of Culture and Sports, alongside the mayor Pedro Hernandez Mateo, who was subsequently jailed for corruption, it has seen little activity and, during the last 6 years it has largely stood empty, despite the cost of it’s annual upkeep of 360,000 euros.
However this latest investment promised by the SPTCV of 1.7 million euros promises to furnish a program of cultural activities over the next two years which will include two major events per month and attract audiences from all over the Vega Baja from which the Generalitat hopes to recover part of it’s investment in the auditorium from the revenue generated at the box office
Rodes said that he hoped there might be some interest in leasing the building in the future and despite a slow start there had already been and enquiry from the PP, which will use the building for an upcoming congress, and a number of cultural and other groups. It is thought that the auditorium is also being considered by the Royal British Legion as a venue for their Centenary Celebrations in four years’ time.
