Initiative handed in to save Basel theatre

Campaigners, here dressed as nuns, oppose the Basel government’s plan to build an indoor swimming pool where the theatre is located. © Keystone / Georgios Kefalas

An initiative to preserve the Musical Theatre BaselExternal link has been submitted to the cantonal authorities. With a protest song, the sound of drums and dance performances by the ensemble of the musical Sister Act, the initiative committee marched to Basel City Hall.

According to the initiator, Toni Kleimann, around 3,400 signatures were collected. The petition opposes the Basel government’s plan to build an indoor swimming pool where the theatre is located. It calls for the hall to remain for cultural use and for an alternative location to be found for the pool.

“We were shocked by the Basel government’s idea to destroy a beautiful and intact theatre,” Kleimann said when handing over the signatures on Thursday. Voters should therefore decide “whether this kind of culture can continue to live”, he said.

In spring 2022 the Basel government announced plans to install a 50-metre swimming pool – which it said Basel had been wanting for decades – in the building of the current concert and theatre hall. The rental contract with the Musical Theater Basel will end by mutual agreement at the end of 2024. The cantonal government said investment of CHF50-80 million ($56-90 million) would be needed to renovate the building shell and the theatre. In addition, the theatre could not be operated sustainably without state subsidies.

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Shortly before the government’s decision, a separate popular initiative was submitted calling for an indoor swimming pool with a 50-metre pool. The cantonal parliament decided this year to extend the voting deadline for the indoor swimming pool initiative in order to avoid conflicts with the musical theatre initiative.

The Musical Theatre Basel was opened in 1995 as a theatre for the musical Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and has 1,567 seats. In addition to musicals, it is also used for concerts, dance events and comedy shows.

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