With horrified faces, the municipal council listened to planner rudy laatsch: the interior renovation of the steigerwaldhalle will cost more than twice as much as estimated just a year ago. After a good two hours, however, it was clear that there was no way around the investment. The building committee has not yet decided anything – the whole council must be consulted for this rough arrangement.
At the end of november 2011, laatsch estimated 630,105 euros gross for the renovation of the ceiling, heating, ventilation and lighting, as well as the addition of a public address system. These costs have now more than doubled to around 1.38 million euros.
Safety deficiencies objected to
During an inspection, the district administration office objected to the fact that the hall did not comply with the valid regulations for meeting places for more than 1,000 people – although the hall had previously been approved for 1,350 people. "The authorities demanded a fire protection concept", explained laatsch. He worked this – and a few other requirements – into the plans together with the wurzburg office of burmester (gebaudetechnik).
This reduced the costs by many items that were not originally under discussion – including five emergency exits, a lightning protection system, a fire alarm system and an acoustic alarm system with loudspeakers for announcements.
Some of the safety lighting will also have to be retrofitted. "It is now possible to open the hall for 2000 people without any problems", laatsch explained, but stressed that the investments had been the same at the previous border. "The specifications are the same, whether for 1001, 2000 or 5000 people." without retrofitting, the only option is to reduce the number of visitors to less than 1000. However, the requirements were also met if the hall was divided for smaller events.
Stefan scherf and jochen weipert from the burmester office explained details of the building services. The questions about the ventilation – noise emissions, accommodation, performance, maintenance – they answered to the satisfaction of the councillors. Two separate facilities – for two parts of the hall – find their place on two floors in the back, right part above the bar.
For this reason, the hall must be somewhat increased in height at this point. The installation will take place in cramped conditions, which is not problem-free, but possible, he says. The noise remains within the limits: 45 decibels in the hall and 50 decibels outside – when the system is running at full power, which will only be necessary when it is fully occupied.
On the subject of heating, weipert explained in response to a question that the running times for an economical operation of a combined heat and power plant are too short. The new lighting system, which reacts to daylight with light sensors and can be individually adjusted, offers considerable energy-saving potential.
Chaotic installations
During the inventory of the installations, stefan scherf discovered that there was a veritable chaos of lines, switching points and sub-distribution units. "At the moment, only the janitor knows what's going on", confirmed wolfgang stocker (CWG). The technology was therefore organized and reduced to what was necessary. "What is possible is preserved."
In addition to the loudspeaker system for announcements, the burmester office has planned a sound system for music recordings and speeches for almost 45,000 euros alone. "Is not one of them enough?", asked mayor werner knaier (CSU).
Scherf said, however, that the quality of the loudspeaker system is comparable to that of systems in schools. "You can't use it to amplify a speech, let alone music, properly." if you wanted to play the security announcements over the sound system on the other side, it would have to be extended over the entire building – which would cost more than installing both systems.
"After the renovation, the control of the entire technology was very user-friendly. The maintenance can be done by any electrician", emphasized scherf.
Michael ruckel (burgerblock) asked if the substance of the hall, which was built in 1972, was still suitable for such huge investments. "Rubbing down and rebuilding is not an alternative – we had to do that ten years ago", laatsch found clear words. In the meantime too much money has been poured into the hall. "The interior renovation is now complete – after that we should have several decades of peace and quiet." the basic substance would allow it.
The space problem – which was repeatedly revealed during the explanations – was again addressed by josef laudenbach from the administrative community. "Now we have 116 square meters of total space for storing equipment – after the renovation it was only 74!" he suggested a small extension. "This will of course cost more again", said laatsch. Stocker said that "perhaps it was possible to muck out".
Time is pressing
After all this information came another shock for the council: a decision must be made, time is running out. "If we wait for the october meeting, we won't be able to put the tender out to tender this year", said laatsch. The goal of being finished with the renovation by mid september 2013 would thus be dead.
There was agreement that there was little potential for discussion "the only way forward is forward", as walter rosentritt (WG reupelsdorf) emphasized – nevertheless, the canoe rental must first settle down. "In addition, the question of space must be clarified", said ruckel. If one invests so much, one should not save on a cultivation then also.
The committee decided to convene an extraordinary meeting on monday at 8 p.M. The only item on the agenda was the renovation of the steigerwaldhalle. Then a fundamental decision must be made.