Valuable paintings cannot be admired in the Pasing factory at the moment. It is too humid in the exhibition rooms, drops of water seep through the glass roof into the interior of the atrium. The culture and community center at the Pasing train station is dilapidated, the plaster is crumbling from the walls, windows are leaking and the building services no longer meet today’s standards.
Since 1991, the former shoe and later household goods factory has been a contact point for music, theater, literature and cabaret enthusiasts. It houses the theater “Much Ado About Nothing”, Munich’s smallest opera house, 600 square meters of exhibition space and numerous rooms for social commitment. As ideal as the architecture and location of the 126-year-old factory building are for a cultural venue and community meeting place, the building is not designed for such intensive use. The Pasinger factory has to be completely renovated. The municipal committee of the city council has now passed a corresponding fundamental decision.
The last major safety and maintenance measures were carried out in 2009, primarily under the premise of “maintaining operations”. In 2017, the toilet facilities on the ground floor were renewed and expanded. Now an energetic renovation is planned, the modernization of the air conditioning, heating, electrics, lighting and water pipes, the renewal of the roof drainage and the repair of the roofs, the improvement of the sound insulation and the acoustics in the halls. It is necessary to remove the moisture, take care of the flaking on the facades and the windows and create accessibility everywhere.
More space for spectators and new course rooms are to be created
Above all, an increase in visitor capacity is urgently needed in view of the population growth in the district and in the west of Munich, according to municipal officer Kristina Frank (CSU). In the context of the cultural sector, this means, among other things, examining whether more than the previous two course rooms can be created in the future. In addition, the carriage hall used for unconventional opera productions is to be enlarged by adding a foyer or installing a balcony. Currently only 160 people fit in the hall.
The redesign should not only benefit culture fans, but also social users. Because there is a lack of space everywhere. The two parent-child initiatives “Red Beets” and “Factory Children” need more space, as does the street work branch. The Paritätische Familienbildungsstätte (Fabi), which has a branch there, is also very popular, but the course room for the parent-child courses is too small for the demand and is neither pram-friendly nor suitable for the disabled. And “Culture & Play” also needs additional space. The association offers many social, cultural and artistic educational opportunities for children and young people and, together with the neighboring Munich Children and Youth Forum, enables children and young people to participate and have a say in urban politics and urban design.
However, because there will be no new areas within the factory building, the solution from an administrative point of view lies in a new building: the former caretaker’s villa at Wensauerplatz 4 was demolished at the beginning of the summer holidays due to its poor structural condition. A new building is to be built on this property, into which the Fabi and a day-care center will move according to current plans. The Kultur & Spielraum association should then be allowed to use the 70 square meters previously used by Fabi.
But what happens during the general renovation? “Possibly”, says Frank, the new Kulturbürgerhaus Pasing on Offenbachstraße would be available as an interim venue for music and theater after the planned completion. “But alternative locations would have to be considered for the gallery and Munich’s smallest opera house.” Likewise for the entire social area. In this context, the municipal officer considers a modular container solution on the plot of the demolished caretaker’s villa to be “fundamentally conceivable”.
The cultural and social departments are now asked to develop concepts for the interim and future use of the Pasinger factory by summer 2023.