AllThingsGerman.net: Oberursel
The latest news in English from Oberursel in the Taunus area of Germany.
Yesterday (Thursday, 15th August, 2013) the brand name for the new swimming pool in Oberursel was revealed: Taunabad.
How intentional the release was may well be unknown, or perhaps some of those from Oberursel’s town hall attending the press conference were just surprised at the fact that the name had not leaked out.
The real news of the day was the announcement of the Förderverein Taunabad – a charity that has been founded to support the swimming pool. [Read more…]
Due to the Altkönigstraße being closed in the coming weeks, the following bus routes will be diverted from today, 2nd April, 2013:
Routes 42, 45 along with school buses 48 and 49 will be diverted along the Theodor-Heuss-Straße, Brüder-Grimm-Straße and Rotbornstraße.
The bus stop “Theodor-Heuss-Straße” will be moved into that road, the stop “Schwimmbad” will not be serviced and a temporary bus stop will be in operation in the Rotbornstraße.
Local political group the OBG do not belive that adding a sauna to the new indoor swimming pool would make financial sense, as they claim it would cost more to build and run than it would make in revenue. In fact, the leader of their parliamentary group Georg Braun says that this has been clear to them since the summer of 2011.
According to an expert opinion, the income from a sauna would cover the running costs, but not when the cost of building it is added to the equation. Georg Braun was quoted as asking “What use would the higher revenue be, if the investment costs are not covered?”
The OBG went into the pedestrian area of the town on Saturday morning, and reported that in many of their conversations with passers-by the people of the town are confused by what they call the “half truths” of the sauna supporters. They also warn that if the sauna were to make a loss, then the taxpayer would have to pick up the bill. [Read more…]
(Click on a photo to enlarge)
The lifeguards’ building and the outdoor changing rooms have now gone.
These photos were taken during the last hour of the outdoor swimming pool (Freibad) in Oberursel, on Sunday, 16th September, 2012, between 6pm and 7pm.
As the sun set over the trees, the pool slowly emptied, the gate was locked up for the last time and the guests slowly made their way home – some of them with souvenirs from the buildings that are due to be knocked down next week.
The pool is due to re-open for the summer season in 2014.
(Click on any photo to enlarge and start the slide show)
On the last day of the open-air pool season, entry to the swimming pool (Freibad) in Oberursel will be free of charge before the pool closes for demolition work to start on the changing rooms to make way for the new indoor pool. It is set to re-open for the summer season in 2014.
That last day is tomorrow: Sunday, 16th September, 2012 between 7am and 7pm.
The Bürgerversammlung about the new swimming pool last week appears to have a lasting effect on many in Oberursel, because in the space of just a few days the political landscape in the town has changed dramatically.
Let me try and explain the past few years in simple terms first:
1. The indoor pool in the town was closed because the roof was deemed unstable.
2. The coalition of CDU and FDP wanted to sell of a sports field (Altkönigsportplatz) and the swimming pool car park to finance a new building, and an architect came up with a design to include a sauna and modernise the outside pool at the same time.
3. At the town parliament elections last year, the SPD, Green party and OBG were all behind the swimming pool, but did not want to sell of the sports field, and although the CDU remained the largest party in the parliament, the SPD/Green/OBG coalition gained a majority.
4. SPD/Green/OBG drew up a coalition agreement that they would build a new swimming pool, but would borrow at most only 20% of the capital needed to do so and would not sell of the sports field.
5. It was then decided just to build a new indoor pool and leave space for a sauna, moving work on the outdoor pool to a later date.
6. Planning permission was given, changes to Bebauungspläne were approved, and companies started giving quotes on the cost of actually building it.
7. A few weeks ago they even held a press conference to announce that building work would be starting soon.
You could say that everything was going swimmingly, until the town’s treasurer explained why the town could not afford to build it. [Read more…]
The Stadthalle was packed full on Wednesday evening for the “Bürgerversammlung” to discuss the new swimming pool.
Hans-Georg Brum (Mayor)
It all started off quite well, with the mayor Hans-Georg Brum asking the question “if we don’t build it now, when will we?” and pointing out the value of the new indoor swimming pool for the schools in the town and in general for children, youths and older people, stressing the fact that it was not just for the swimming club (SCO) and the lifeguards (DLRG).
With a nod to the financial problems he asked the politicians in the town to stand behind the project, claiming that if everyone wants it to happen, somehow it will be possible. For this he received a round of applause.
The next presentation was about the building itself, but finally led to the calculation of how the project is going to be financed. For the first time, the public were shown a list of the pieces of land that are to be sold off to raise the capital. Or at least, the roads in which these pieces of land are in.
Perhaps most interesting at this point was [Read more…]
The indoor swimming pool in Oberursel has now been closed for four years and is now probably one of the most discussed topics amongst the people and in particular the politicians in the town.
Last week it was on the agenda of the planning and environmental committee at the town hall, this week there is a Bürgerversammlung to update everyone on the current state of the planning and to allow people to put forward their views. Next week the town council is due to vote on the project. And various Bebauungspläne have been amended to allow for land to be sold off and built on to finance it all.
But it is the financial situation that remains the biggest question of all: can the town afford it? [Read more…]
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