Skopje mayor Orce Gjorgjievski and culture and tourism minister Sedat Sulejmani inspected the construction work at the Universal Hall. After the renovation, the hall is to reopen for artists and audiences, and then be handed over to the City to manage.

The goal is tied to a date that can no longer be pushed back: "Skopje 2028 - European Capital of Culture".

"Before us is a great opportunity and an even greater responsibility," Gjorgjievski wrote, adding that the accolade should leave lasting value for the city - renovated cultural spaces, greater support for creative work, and culture accessible to every citizen.

According to him, particular attention is going to the preparations for 2028, to mapping locations and cultural capacity, to improving tourism potential, and to connecting the city's and the national cultural institutions more effectively.

Why this hall is not just another building

The Universal Hall is not an ordinary building in Skopje. It is part of what the city received after the earthquake - a symbol of solidarity, as the mayor himself describes it. Generations of performers grew up in it, and the applause that echoed there is something people still remember.

Which is exactly why the renovation is not a technical question. Skopje has a painful history with cultural venues: they close for renovation, then stand for years, then reopen as something other than what they were. Or they do not reopen at all.

That is the difference 2028 makes. When a city has a title and a date, deadlines stop being recommendations. A European Capital of Culture is not postponed because construction is running late - it happens, with a finished hall or with an empty space where one should have been.

So an inspection of the works is good news. The real news will be the date the hall is handed over, not how many times it gets visited while it is being built.