Festival chief organizer Helen Sildna told ERR's Raadio 2 that instead of demolishing the building, a suitable functional concept should be found for it.

"The ambition could be to turn it into Europe's most exciting cultural center," Sildna said. "We feel that a 4,000-seat hall is very much needed in Tallinn and in Estonia more broadly, because it would significantly enrich our concert scene. I truly believe this architecture has value."

For such a large building to be financially sustainable, it would need to host at least 200 events per year. In Sildna's view, the venue cannot be sustained by just a handful of concerts; rather, it should develop into a cross-disciplinary center.

"The key is for the content plan to fall into place in a way that makes the building viable. Everything starts with the content concept where the architecture supports the programming. We talk a lot about the building, but not about the vision for its content," she added.

Ideally, Sildna said, the building would become a multi-purpose hub hosting international conferences and possibly sporting events. "In an ideal scenario, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra would find a home there and be able to reside as a collective, which is a widely recognized international practice," she said.

In addition to a 4,000-seat hall, the cultural sector is also lacking an even larger indoor venue with a capacity of 15,000. Sildna noted that Estonia's concert scene is currently too seasonal, as major international events can only take place without restrictions during the three summer months at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Large-scale, year-round indoor venues would make it possible to bring more international artists to Estonia, which would also strongly motivate local cultural figures.

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