a shared performance space. In 1980 the Amsterdam city council approved the new design by Cees Dam and Wilhelm Holzbauer. Approval from the provincial and national governments followed in 1981. The Stopera was a controversial project that met with heavy protests, particularly from the local counterculture and leftwing groups like the squatter movement and Provo movement, leading to riots when construction began in 1982. The project went seriously over budget and the final cost was 112 million Dutch guilders more than originally budgeted. The opera officially opened on 23 September 1986; the new city hall opened two years later. References Further reading Max van Rooy en Bas Roodnat De Stopera, een Amsterdamse geschiedenis (1986; Uitgeverij Rap), Dutch publication. Opera houses in the Netherlands City and town halls in the Netherlands Concert halls in Amsterdam Ballet venues Music venues completed in 1986