The history of the Kurhaus – the symbol of the resort – begins with the Tyszkiewicz (Tiškevičius) family of counts. Around 1877 Count J. Tyszkiewicz built a spacious restaurant on the corner of today's Vytauto and J. Basanavičiaus streets; it was soon extended, and the resort's first hotel was established here. The Kurhaus became a popular and well-loved meeting place for holidaymakers, because it housed not only a restaurant but also a reading room, a billiard room and other games rooms. Dances, plays and concerts were also held in the building. So the Kurhaus became the heart of the young resort. An information office operated on the ground floor of the Kurhaus, and the resort fee was collected here. In 1910 a 230 m deep artesian well was dug next to the Kurhaus, supplying the resort with better drinking water. The symbol of Palanga burned down on 25 August 2002; its restoration began on 30 May 2012. Within a year the brick part of the Kurhaus was rebuilt, the authentic Kurhaus mouldings were recreated from surviving material, oak parquet was laid, and the walls were decorated with wallpaper like that which adorned the Kurhaus in the days of the Tyszkiewicz counts. The great hall of the Kurhaus was graced with a late 18th-century chandelier. Since 2015 the Palanga Culture and Youth Centre has been active in the Kurhaus. It is an open and modern space for cultural education that encourages self-expression in a community of all age groups and social backgrounds, nurtures ethnic culture and the spread of professional art, and is marked by multi-layered activities that encourage a reflective cultural process. Every year the centre organises more than 250 events: high-quality concert programmes, celebrations of state and calendar holidays, festivals and more.