In reaction, the Cluj newspaper Kolozsvári Hírlap accused the Prime Minister of being the biggest enemy of Hungarian architects because he had assigned the project to an Austrian company¹⁰. Because of their efficiency, but also perhaps as a consequence of the discussions, Fellner & Helmer presented their first sketch of the project to the City Council of Cluj on February 29, 1904. The Works Surveillance Council, in the name of the Government, demanded some modifications concerning fire safety.¹¹ Therefore, it was decided that the workshops and the design studios be moved onto Zrínyi street and the foyer of the theatre be provided with a larger lobby. The local press announced on March 3, 1904 that the Prime Minister, István Tisza, would not change his mind and the work would be entrusted to Fellner & Helmer¹² because they worked quickly and cheaply. A group of Hungarian architects submitted a complaint to the Local Council but it was rejected¹³. Restructured, the project was presented again to the Local Council and was approved on May 16, 1904¹⁴. The next day the mayor of Cluj, Géza Szvacsina, with the city chief notary, Eszterházy, had a meeting in Budapest with the Prime Minister¹⁵. The disscusion was about the functioning of the theatre and on May 21, 1904 it was announced that the theatre building - the construction of which had not even begun - would be rented to a lessee who was supposed to administrate it for 3 to 6 years¹⁶. Nevertheless, in the editorial of Kolozsvári Hírlap of June 10, 1904 the project was criticized and the journalist seemed skeptical about the chances of companies from Cluj at the bid for the undertaking of the work¹⁷. On July 2 it was announced that the project was in Budapest, where the plans were being copied, and after 8 days there would be the bid for the execution. On July 16 the bid of July 19 was announced for digging, masonry, carpentery, metal structure, other metalic works, scaffolding works, asphalt works, heating, ventilation, waterpipes and canalization. The project was available at the Royal Institute of Constructions, Cluj branch (Királyi Építôintézet), although it was edited only in German¹⁸, a fact that irritated the inhabitants of Cluj even more. On July 28 the contract between the Austrian company Fellner & Helmer and the Hungarian Government was signed. It was stipulated that work was to begin on September 12, 1904 and that the opening would be March 15, 1905. In December 1904 tests would be done, the cost not to exceed 850 crowns, and the companies that were to carry out the work would be exclusively Hungarian, especially from Cluj¹⁹. Inflamed by the presence of the Austrian company, the Cluj newspapers criticized the renaissance style of the facade. Probably this was similar to the one made by the the same architects for the theatre in Sofia. That is why the facade was changed to a modern one.

     The local press was convinced that the bid was going to encourage nepotism rather that professionalism. On August 20 the companies that had submitted a bid were announced and on September 7 the results were made public. There were only a few companies from Cluj²⁰. On September 15, 1904 the preparation of the site began and the press was already criticizing the type of bricks chosen²¹. On September 23 the Local Council awarded the construction licence. There was a council set up to supervise the work with regard to fire resistance and quality²². On October 28, there was a meeting of the Works Surveillance Council with the participation of Ferdinand Fellner. Somewhere there must have been placed a rock of red marble on which was written the year 1904. The rock was afterwards mounted in the floor of the first landing of the ceremonial stairs. On Christmas Eve 1904, the press announced that the foundations were completed, as well as the masonry of the subsoil. There were 160 workers but it was obvious that they would not be finished by March 15, 1905²³. On March 1, 1905 it was estimated that the work would be completed by March 15, 1906. The renaissance frontal facade was replaced at the suggestion of Fellner. Probably at that time, the present facade was chosen, with composition elements of the Secession style. The influence of theatres from Cernăuţi and Fürth was obvious. The company worked with a couple of facades and interchanged them: towers that flanked the main facade; a central risalit with a triangular or circular pediment. In one of the two niches of the front facade was placed the statue of Baron Miklós Wesselényi, dramaturge and Protector of the first permanent Hungarian troupe which was started in Cluj (1792). In the other niche was a statue of Baron Miklós Jósika, a Hungarian Walter Scott²⁴. There was, apparently, an intention of representing in the niches the two muses of the theatre and of music. The intention materialized only in the 1980s. The interiors and installation work were done by companies from Budapest but were not completed on March 15, 1906, the new competition date. Maybe the quarrels in Cluj concerning the bidding for the work and the old provincial susceptibility contributed to the lenghtening process of the site stages, an exception in the activity of the Viennese company. The installations heated the main hall with warm air and the rest of the building with steam central heating. For the air to circulate in the main hall, an opening was made with a metal clack valve on top of the central chandelier. The warm air was eliminated in the metal structured attic, having circular skylights, closed with tin blinds. The metal grills from the upper side of the main hall were decorated in a neo-baroque manner, made of brass, being dissimulated in the golden stucco. The insides were decorated in a sumptuous style, named in that period neobaroque but having rather the traits of the Secession style, then at its climax. The main hall had three galleries. The inside was very like the theatre at Iaşi, the latter having only one gallery and a stall. The main hall was fully exploited, with standing room in the most difficult corners. These standing areas were separated from the seating areas by metal balustrades decorated with floral motifs. The balcony had hightened balustrades along the stairs for safety. The central chandelier, manufactured by a company from Budapest, Ganz & Co, had a descending system with a rack cogged wheel placed in the metal structured attic. In the other halls, decoration was lacking. Ever since the interwar period, the accessory halls were considered deficient.