Beijing's oldest opera hall, built during the Ming Dynasty, will be torn down to make way for a modern theater, state media reported Monday.

The Guanghe Theater, declared unsafe in 2000, dates to the final years of the Ming Dynasty, which lasted from 1368-1644, Xinhua News Agency said. Initially the villa of a rich salt merchant, it was rebuilt several times, most recently in 1955.

In the 1970s, it was a venue for top Peking Opera performances, but audiences dwindled and the theater fell into disuse.

Beijing once had about 40 opera houses, most of them south of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, but few remain, Xinhua said.

"We intend to build a modern, professional venue," said Ma Dekai, chief of cultural facility construction in the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture.

The Beijing government has been criticized in recent years because many traditional areas and buildings have been torn down to make way for modern buildings or roads.