History
The construction of the biggest congress and performance hall in Yugoslavia (as called back then - now Serbia) started in 1976. The hall would be located in the new construction area of the city of Belgrade, New Belgrade. In those years the capital of Belgrade spread across the rivers of the Sava and Danube to construct a modern alternative to the historical city. The complete construction of the project took three years, until 1979, and was headed by chief designer and team manager Stojan Maksimović. Most of the construction took place in 1977 when the skeleton of the building was complete. Supporting architecture such as roads and highways were also built during this period around the Sava Centar complex.
Works on the building had to be rushed due to the scheduled International Monetary Fund annual meeting which eventually took place in Sava Centar. The rushed project meant that the planned stage at the main hall, which was supposed to be revolving, was scraped and a large stage was placed instead.
On August 17, 2006, a renovated parking complex at Sava Centar was opened on the with capacity to handle 410 cars. As a result of the renovation parking fees were introduced for the first time at Sava Centar.
In its jubilee year of 2007, when Sava Centar marked its 30th anniversary, a substantial amount of money was invested in the reconstruction of the glass facade. Also, the city authorities funded the reconstruction of broken glass on the sideways-facing facade, as well as the audio equipment for concerts, while seats were replaced in the Great Hall.
Sava Centar has hosted Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Nina Simone, Julio Iglesias, Henryk Szeryng, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Suzanne Vega, Nigel Kennedy, B.B. King, Lou Reed, Jethro Tull, Sting, Zubin Mehta, David Byrne, Simple Minds, Gotan Project, Madredeus, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Johan Strauss Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, and Okazu Philharmonic Orchestra.
It is also the venue of the Miss Serbia competition and Serbian Eurovision Song Contest selection music festivals, Beovizija.
Read more about this topic: Sava Centar
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