Ostend's Casino Kursaal to get Belgium’s largest adjustable concert hall
Major works will start on the auditorium of the Casino Kursaal in the seaside resort of Ostend (West Flanders) in October. Mechanical elevators will be fitted under the auditorium, the building’s largest and most important hall, so that the seats can be adjusted automatically and the floor can be made level with the stage. That should make it possible to organise much larger events and concerts for audiences of up to 3,000 people.
The auditorium currently boasts just over 2,000 seats. It is now going to be completely revamped, so that the hall can be equipped with a mechanism that allows you to take away the seats and adjust both the stage and the floor so that you can create one large surface. This will make the hall the largest adjustable event hall in the country.
An adjustable hall opens up many new opportunities explains Mayor Bart Tommelein (Flemish liberal/Open VLD). "In the first place, it will allow us to organise much larger concerts for a standing audience of up to 3,000 people. But we can also hold large banquets or conferences in the hall. If we level the stage and floor, they will be at the height of the large windows that open onto the beach, which will give you a beautiful sea view."
Important economic motor for the city
The plans are grand, but so is the price tag. The revamp will cost an estimated 25 million euros. Some 9 million of that come from the Flemish government. The Province of West Flanders will contribute 100,000 euros through the tourism agency Westtoer and 400,000 euros through the regional fund, and the building's owner NV EKO will provide a further 4 million euros. The remaining 11.5 million euros will come from the venue’s operator."
"The investment is substantial," Mayor Tommelein concedes, "but the Kursaal, with its auditorium, is an important economic motor for our city. Every year we welcome over a quarter of a million visitors to our magnificent auditorium. We want to raise that figure to 330,000 people a year. When you know that 60% of these visitors have a meal in a restaurant before or after the show and 30% book an overnight stay in the area, you realise why this investment is so important to us."
Rest of the Kursaal will remain open
The goal is to have the work completed by August 2026 so that the venue can open the following month, in September. The other rooms in the Casino Kursaal remain open as usual during the works.
