Construction of the JVA Tornau is delayed: What are the consequences for Halle?

The planned construction of the new correctional facility (JVA) in Halle-Tornau could be delayed. The Ministry of Finance of Saxony-Anhalt informed on Wednesday in the Legal Committee of the Landtag in Magdeburg that no decisions on a specific blueprint should be made before the upcoming mayor election in Halle. The election will take place on February 2, the runoff election on February 23 is likely. A decision on the blueprint is expected in March at the earliest.

The JVA Tornau is to be built on an approximately 17 hectare area near the Autobahn 14. Construction is planned for 2026, while completion and commissioning for 2029 are sought. In the coming time, the expansion of the existing JVA Volkstedt in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz should also begin, which increases the number of detention places there, such as MDR reported.

background and challenges

The new JVA in Halle-Tornau is planned to replace the outdated institutions "Roter Ochse" and "Merually Future". City councilors criticize the planned installation of cold air and the development of the development plan in the planning committee was postponed. Building director René Rebenstorf called for a written concept for communication from the state, since residents and citizens' initiatives were not informed about ongoing archaeological studies. Thomas Pöge from the IPS Immobilien- und Project Management Society Sachsen-Anhalt MBH admitted that there were communication problems, such as dubisthalle.de In the meantime, the location in Wilhelm-Busch-Straße is rejected due to bomb-suspicion areas. The new JVA should offer about 440 detention places, but with regard to new EU requirements that apply from 2025, individual cells with at least 9 m² for each prisoner must be created. The existing institutions do not correspond to these standards. The original plan for the conversion of the “Merels Future” prison was stopped to over 353 million euros in 2021 due to increased costs.