Venue
The opening was held on 13 June 1957.[4] That year the first seminar was held and the first movie show was Only people by Branko Bauer. On 18 November 1957 the first musical show was held, too. The Great Hall, with 1,600 seats, became one of the central entertainment multi-purpose venues in Belgrade (concerts, shows, cinema). Conductor Mladen Jagušt [sr] stated that the hall is one of the five in Europe with the best acoustics. In the 1970s and 1980s it became a prestigious scene, Belgrade's version of Paris Olympia. Artists who performed on the stage include Olivera Katarina, Đorđe Marjanović, Arsen Dedić, Édith Piaf, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Charles Aznavour, Robert De Niro, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, but also Arthur Rubinstein, New York Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic. Two folk music superstars of the day, Lepa Brena and Miroslav Ilić, held dozens of consecutive concerts.[1][2][3][4]
The 1977–1978 series of matches between Boris Spassky and Viktor Korchnoi, part of the 1976-1978 world championship cycle, was held in the Dom Sindikata. The spectators were divided between two grandmasters and even fist fights occurred in front of the building.[4] Film and music festivals which originated in the venue include FEST (from 1971 to 1977/1979 when the Sava Center was finished), "Kids fest", and "Belgrade Spring". A massive reconstruction ensued in 1978 when the interior of the entry hall was remodeled. In time it became the multiplex movie theater, with additional halls 2 (305 seats), 3 (105) and 4 (101), with the total area of 6,250 m2 (67,300 sq ft).[1][2][3]
A large pipe organ was installed in 1957 and was operational until 1998. In 2017 it was estimated that the repair will cost several hundred thousands of euros. The Great Hall will remain multi-functional (concerts including symphonic orchestras, movies, and shows). Though the number of the seats will be reduced, the stage will be enlarged while the balcony and 20 loges will be kept. One of the halls will also be multi-purposed, adapted for chamber music and congresses and conferences. Large cooling equipment, today obsolete, which occupies an entire room in the basement will be surrounded by the glass walls and be accessible to the students of technical sciences. On the first floor one room at the first floors will be transformed into the city gallery and another into the children educational center. A bar will be opened in the lobby, with patio stretching outside onto the square. Inside the lobby, a panoramic elevator will be constructed. Club Promocija, which is entered from the inside passage, will be transformed into the jazz club Lisabon.[3] The venue was re-opened on 27 April 2018 with the gala opening and was officially renamed to "Kombank Hall" (Kombank arena).[5]
The venue has been described as an "important institution, one of the phenomenon of the second half of the 20th century". A documentary film on Dom Sindikata, Witness of the time (Svedok jednog vremena), premiered in March 2019, at the 66th Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival.[4]
The "Gallery Kombank Dvorana", a permanent gallery, was opened on 5 March 2021. Inaugural exhibition presented works of painter Miloš Šobajić.[10]
Company
The building was originally built for the Association of the Trade Unions (SSSS), hence the name. The SSSS founded the Dvorana Doma Sindikata as a separate company, which officially managed the hall. However, that company went bankrupt in 2016 and was purchased by the movie distributor company "MCF - Megacom film" which became the official leaseholder, as SSSS is still officially the owner of the facility. In July 2017 the facility was closed for the impending complete reconstruction, projected to last up to 8 months. Due to the protected status, the overall appearance has to be preserved. The unique marble floor, banisters and handrails will be repaired and with he help of the vintage photos, the "old feel" will be kept. After the reconstruction, it will have five halls with additional venues, while the Great Hall will be reduced to 1,300 seats and will still be the largest concert hall in Belgrade.[1][2][3]
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