The Nuremberg north curve is in the city center on Wednesday. Three men have positioned themselves in front of the town hall, they carry a white banner: “It’s in your hands – for the city and the club / Fulfill the wish for our new home!” You, these are the 70 city councillors. On this evening they make an important decision about the future of the said homeland: the Max Morlock Stadium, the dilapidated home ground of 1. FC Nuremberg.
A good week and a half ago, Mayor Marcus König (CSU) and Mayor Christian Vogel (SPD) presented the results of the feasibility study on the future of the arena and its surroundings here in the town hall. The recommendation that derives from this: a complete reconstruction of the arena. Running track away, the fans closer to the turf. In addition, more VIP boxes, which the clammy club is missing this year and are an important source of income in modern football. Additional areas are also planned for athletics and mass sports and areas that can be rented out profitably, for example for congresses. This conversion, according to the quintessence of the study, is possible without changing the listed façade of the grandstand or the octagonal shape of the stadium, which is also protected.
A draft resolution is up for voting on Wednesday, which provides for the following: to enter into an exchange with the Nuremberg citizenship about the plans. Mayor König, for example, will be cycling to the stadium with interested parties in the coming week. In addition, a sustainable energy concept for the stadium is to be developed; the existing bodies should continue their talks.
However, the most important part of the draft resolution is different: a committee made up of the city’s finance department, club representatives and other experts is to develop a proposal for a financing concept. Because the question is still open: who should pay for the costs of up to 200 million euros estimated in the study? The city of Nuremberg, which owns the stadium, does not have this money. Most recently, city politicians brought up a guarantee from the Free State. The draft also provides for the examination of a so-called stadium development company.
In the hour-long debate, Mayor König first discussed “expectation dampening management”. A solution has never been as close as it is now, but the feasibility study is only “the first step on a very long road, a marathon”. This first step is followed by the second on Wednesday: the approval of the draft resolution is unanimous, the applause of the club fans present thunders from the gallery in the large meeting room, and a whistle of joy can also be heard. That must be the “Franconian euphoria” that is mentioned here several times and that mayor Vogel even fired up a bit in the end – despite all the management’s dampening of expectations. “Our goal is,” he says, “that the stadium will be new in 2030.” The North Curve travel group applauded enthusiastically.