Sea Life on the brink of closure Is the end nigh for for the Königswinter tourist attraction?
Königswinter · The Sea Life in Königswinter is on the brink of closure and could close as early as the end of the year. The company has approached the city with a request to prematurely terminate the contract, which runs until 2064. What the city is planning now.
Almost every child in the region has probably marvelled at the fish in Sea Life in Königswinter. It was only at the end of August that a new exhibition area was presented under the title "Ancestors of Prehistory". Now the large aquarium, which opened in December 2005, is about to close. The lights at Rheinallee are to go out at the end of this year. What will become of the site and the building designed for Sea Life on it is currently completely open.
Last week, the administration informed the main, personnel and finance committee in a non-public session that the company had approached the city with a request for an early termination of the contract. The city and the Sea Life Centre Meeraquarium Betriebs GmbH had concluded a leasehold contract for the property on Rheinallee in 2004. The building is to be transferred to the city without compensation after termination of the contract.
Company wants to terminate hereditary building lease prematurely
According to the administration's document, the company does not want to fulfil the contract, which is limited until 31 December 2064. Sea Life pays a ground rent that was set at five per cent of the land value at the time when the contract was signed in 2004. In several talks with the administration, the possibilities for an early termination of the contract were discussed. According to information from the city, the company intends to cease operations as early as 31 December 2022.
The administration would like to prevent a long-term vacancy at this central location in the old town. This goal was also largely agreed upon in the committee, it was said afterwards. However, some details of the contract turned out to be quite complex in the course of the negotiations. For example, it provides for compensation by the property owner, i.e. the city, if it sells the building after the contract expires.
Building value approaching zero according to appraiser
For this reason, it was agreed that an expert opinion on the value of the building should be prepared. However, it turned out that the valuation of the building, with its architecture almost exclusively suitable for a large aquarium, was hardly possible without a concept for future use. The appraisers assessed the actual value of the building to be close to zero euros due to its specific features.
For this reason, a cost estimate for demolishing the building was obtained. These would amount to around 370,000 euros. Further costs would be estimated at around 75,000 euros for the disposal of the aquarium water and the aquarium equipment. It was assumed that the company would take over the relocation of the fish and the other inhabitants. Sea Life is said to have agreed to this.
The administration's submission states that the company initially insisted on an advance payment, but has since rejected this demand. However, the question of whether the city should take over the building with or without contents, whereby the contents are to be understood as the aquariums and other installations, remains open. The Main, Personnel and Finance Committee postponed a decision on which of the two proposed resolutions the administration should continue to negotiate with the company. If possible, however, the building should be handed over empty.
Building to be handed over empty
Next Monday, the topic will again be on the agenda of the city council in a non-public session. At that time, the draft budget for the year 2023 will also be introduced. The expected demolition costs for the aquarium of around 445,000 euros are not included. In future, the city would also have to do without the ground rent that the company has paid for almost 20 years.
The company only gave an evasive answer when asked by the General-Anzeiger. "Sea Life Königswinter is one of eight Sea Life aquariums in Germany and part of the Merlin Entertainments Group Deutschland GmbH," Martin Lind, General Manager Cluster NRW based in Oberhausen, informed. "As is usual in all our locations, we are also in constant exchange with those responsible in the town of Königswinter in order to ensure a cooperative partnership. We also regularly exchange ideas on the best possible economic development of the locations, just as in Königswinter," says Lind.
In this way, the group is constantly developing and adapting to changes in the market. "If decisions are made on changes in location structures, these will be openly communicated." The manager was silent on the closure plans.
Sea Life Königswinter opened in December 2005. Local residents in particular had previously strongly criticised the project because one of the last green spaces on Berliner Platz had to make way for the new building. Berliner Platz was designed in the 1950s. The Berliner Hof Hotel, destroyed during the war, used to stand on this spot. Several protest actions as well as collections of signatures by residents demanding a different location were ultimately unsuccessful when it was determined that there was no legal basis for a citizens' petition against an ongoing building planning process.
