The city of Skopje is calling for proposals to build an open air stage in front of the Universal Hall theater, that has been left closed for years.

The city was planning to tear down the domed hall that was built after the 1963 earthquake with international help and was for a long time the main concert venue in Skopje. But the town hall was unable to begin work and the idea to put together an open air stage in front of it is seen as the cheapest and easiest option to avoid dealing with the “elephant in the room”. Meanwhile, when asked about the delay in the building of a new venue, Mayor Petre Silegov waxed nostalgic about the old, still standing structure, indicating that the delay is not due to his inability to put together the project, but due to sentimentality.