Planegg: Refurbishment of the elementary school twice as expensive – district of Munich

It has been almost ten years since the Planegger municipal council discussed the poor structural condition of the elementary school on Josef-von-Hirsch-Strasse for the first time. The more than 100-year-old, once magnificent building was literally crumbling at every nook and cranny, and the technical and safety equipment in particular no longer met modern requirements. Although the building is not a listed building, the municipal council decided not to demolish it and build a new one, but for a total renovation – also because the planners calculated an amount of around six million euros, which was significantly lower than for a new building. To date, however, the municipality has paid more than 14 million euros, including around 1.4 million euros in supplements for construction work of all kinds.

In the municipal council’s building committee, Andreas Löbe from the building authority said on Thursday evening that he was now expecting “no further upward surprises”. The work at the school has been largely completed and a “many number of supplements” have been paid for. In fact, the municipality had been confronted with significant cost overruns several times in recent years: Planners and the municipal council initially did not consider a new building of the gym to be absolutely necessary, but this view was later changed – the new building then cost another 3.4 million euros to book.

“Nobody really wanted to take over the chaos”

And so it went on for years. Every time the elementary school renovation was on the municipal council’s agenda, it was clear that there were again “unforeseeable difficulties with the old building” – a phrase that the planners used several times. Ventilation system, broken pipes, no real fire protection, new windows and much more. Councilor Fritz Haugg (FDP) now said in the committee: “Two hearts are beating in my chest. Actually, I should have rejected the addendum, because it feels like the fiftieth of bad planning. There were serious errors, there was almost a system behind it.”

On the other hand, according to Haugg, his intellect tells him “that I have to agree with my fist in my pocket. The frustration must finally come to an end.” Cornelia David (Free Voters) went one step further. She refused, “because my disappointment is too great. The planners just worried us too much.” Against the votes of Cornelia David and Michael Book (CSU), the last bill for “additional construction work” was waved through.

Mayor Hermann Nafziger (CSU) said that he was happy “to leave the catastrophe behind us”. Years ago, the community was not able to change the planning office “in time”. “Nobody really wanted to take over the chaos. At some point the time was over.” Nafziger, who after Annemarie Detsch (SPD) and Heinrich Hofmann (SPD) is the third mayor who had to take over the long-running elementary school renovation, now sees a positive whole: “We now have one of the most beautiful elementary schools in Bavaria, really fabulous.”

source site