Problematic renovation project Beethoven Hall finished in 2024 at the earliest

Bonn · The renovation of the Beethoven Hall is not exactly on a trouble-free course yet. The head of the municipal building management, Lutz Leide, doesn’t see a smooth road ahead until the end of the year, at the earliest.

 Bonn’s problematic construction site. The renovation of the Beethoven Hall is still experiencing some hiccups along the way.

Bonn’s problematic construction site. The renovation of the Beethoven Hall is still experiencing some hiccups along the way.

Foto: Benjamin Westhoff

Even more than three years after its start, the renovation of the Beethoven Hall is not yet on a smooth course. The conditions for steady progress have not yet been met, admitted Lutz Leide, the new head of the municipal building management in Bonn (SGB), on Thursday evening. Responding in a meeting of the project advisory board, he said the goal was to get the construction site completely under control by the end of the year.

According to an expert present, this is a big job. "Good, if he can manage it," said Oliver Kohlmetz from the Düsseldorf-based architectural firm KHSP, which analyzed the Beethoven Hall project. "It's not to be underestimated." The core problem according to KHSP: The original planning contract awarded to the Nieto Sobejano architects' office only included renovation and correction of deficiencies for a maximum of 30 million euros. But what the council decided in 2015 on the basis of a submission from the city administration was much more: a comprehensive core renovation with an extension and massive interventions in the building fabric as well as the complete renewal of the building technology.

Although this made planning more complex, architects, project controller Drees & Sommer and the city kept to the schedule. This could not work, said Kohlmetz. In addition, the structural condition of the hall had not been sufficiently investigated. Kohlmetz advised the board to set up a "task force" to complete all planning now.

SGB project manager Georgia Weiß reported that the structural condition of the hall has now been assessed "to a reasonable extent". However, there could still be daily surprises on the construction site. The politicians on the advisory board were surprised to learn that there was suddenly talk of a completely new component: an equipment room for refrigeration technology, which was recently planned below the restaurant terrace. Depending on whether a deep foundation becomes necessary, this could affect the schedule.

The SGB wants to better organize the project server, which the KHSP auditors had criticized. "There's an incredible amount of data there," said Weiß, "but it's hard to find." A list of open points will be compiled during the planning, the project manager reported. Contracts with construction companies would have to be adjusted according to the corrected planning objectives. There still seem to be problems with the planning office for the technical building equipment. "The TGA planner does not work as we would want it to", said SGB boss Leide, who wants to strengthen his controlling on the construction site in terms of personnel.

Current cost projection at 146 million euros

The Beethovenhalle could be operational again in July 2024, Haval Kassem reported from Leitwerk AG, which has been entrusted with on-site construction management since 2019. But that would only be possible if everything ran smoothly. There are no time buffers in the new schedule, which is to be coordinated with all companies on the construction site by the summer. The current cost estimate is 146 million euros. In the worst case, the city expects 166 million.

Orig. text: Andreas Baumann -Translation: ck

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