Stadthalle Uelzen: Future uncertain - renovation or new building?

Stadthalle Uelzen: Future uncertain - renovation or new building?

Uelzen, Deutschland - The Uelzen town hall, once a lively center for events, has been quiet since January 2023 and have fallen there! The reason? Massive structural defects that deeply worry the Eckardt Meier building manager. On Wednesday, the KTS committee in the town hall took a close look at the fate of the town hall. Klaus Knust, SPD parliamentary group leader, made it clear how important such an event location was for the Hanseatic city-but the answers of other factions were more skeptical.

In April 2023, the SPD submitted an application to be used to delete the plans for the existing town hall and the initiation of a new event center. In September, the advisory agency "FWI Hamburg" presented a detailed needs analysis, which showed that the waiver of the town hall would leave a "tolerable gap" on the market, but could mean a challenge for the city. Dr. Florian Ebeling, the first city council, opened the discussion and presented four options: the immediate fixture of the most urgent problems, complete renovation, new building or even demolition and a new use of the site.

drastic costs and unclear future

However: The possibility of a quick solution is already "off the table". Ebeling and Meier warned that the building has achieved such a desolate state that heating and ventilation modernization as well as new sewage pipes were indispensable. But the dark financial situation of the city - with a planned deficit of around 16 million euros in the coming year - will throw a dark shadow on the future of the town hall: a complete renovation would burden the city treasury with 17 million euros, while a new building would still cost at least 14 million. "If you are honest, we cannot afford 17 million euros," emphasized Ebeling.

But the financial bottleneck cannot all convince. Knust vehemently countered: "What will it bring us in 30 to 40 years if there are no more young people in Uelzen?" The call for courage for the investment in an attractive new town hall is loud - while other councils like Wilhelm Bauck (CDU) note that there are already numerous events. The dispute over the future of the town hall is next round: On November 14th, the KTS committee will be discussed again!