The Zurich government council gave the city of Schlieren a Christmas present without their knowledge. Because at his meeting on December 23, he gave a loan of 2.2 million francs. The decision was recently published. With this money, the protective umbrella for the gasometer can be built, which is supposed to protect the Schlierem landmark from rain and thus from the penetrating moisture (the «Limmattaler Zeitung» reported). Only a complaint against this decision at the administrative court could delay or prevent the umbrella on the 35 meter high landmark.
“Since the submission process has already been completed, we can start work in the spring if there are no objections,” says Schlierem’s Mayor Markus Bärtschiger (SP) on request. He sits on the Board of Trustees of the Gasometer Schlieren Foundation, which maintains the historic building.
The gasworks in Schlieren, which opened in 1898 and closed in 1974, originally had four such gasometers. The one that is still standing is the smallest and has made headlines in recent years. In 1997 it was included in the inventory of listed buildings of supra-municipal importance and in 2001 it was even placed under protection. “It shows the high level of engineering and the technical progress of this time and is therefore the landmark of the Schlieren gasworks,” the government council wrote in its resolution. The gasometer also has the quality of an unmistakable and unique landmark, which is well known far beyond the canton. In detail, it is a so-called telescopic gas container. The one in Schlieren is the last one of its kind in Switzerland. In the German-speaking countries, such historical specimens have only survived in the Berlin gas works in Schöneberg and Marienhof.
Originally, the gasometer was to be preserved as a dynamic monument. So you wanted to be able to demonstrate how it worked. But this operation was short-lived. After the renovation was completed in 2005, only two years passed before you noticed that rainwater was penetrating the structure. A second, unsuccessful attempt to renovate the gasometer took place in 2009. However, when problems arose with the deposition of salt crystals, the foundation definitely decided in 2017 not to keep the gasometer as a dynamic monument. After the canton had already spent around six million francs on the renovation, there was talk of the last rescue attempt.
The contract with the foundation is extended by 25 years
The planning costs for the umbrella roof were borne by the foundation, but, according to the government council, the implementation of the project would by far exceed the foundation’s assets of 1.1 million francs. The federal government is likely to contribute around 25 percent of the total costs of around 2.2 million francs. However, this money will only be discussed once the framework conditions for federal contributions in the area of monument preservation have been agreed.
The government council also decided to extend the building rights contract with the Gasometer Schlieren Foundation, which will expire in 2026, for a further 25 years. If he hadn’t done this, the canton would have to pay for the maintenance and take care of the operation, the placement and the revitalization of the nationally important industrial monument.
This is a great success for Bärtschiger. But actually work should have started much earlier. The building application was submitted in January 2019. Because of the submissions and the difficult search for money, the project was delayed, said Bärtschiger. “But now we’re ready to go when the deadline for complaints has expired.”
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