dOffenbach Chamberlain Martin Wilhelm’s (SPD) budget for 2023 quickly shows what has top priority in the city: investment in schools and kindergartens. With €90 million, the majority of the record amount of investment of €115.7 million in next year’s budget will go towards the construction, extension and renovation of schools and kindergartens. This also includes building a much-needed high school on the site of the former freight yard, where Quarter 4.0 will be built. The project has now taken another important step forward, as announced by the city: the winner of the European-wide construction competition has been chosen. This also led to the first preliminary plans for the new high school building at the Güterbahnhof, which should have five to six classrooms and a three-field sports hall. The urgent need for additional places in secondary schools of Offenbach According to the city, this not only necessitates this additional high school, but also the expansion of the city’s integrated comprehensive schools. The extensions of the IGS Lindenfeld, Mathildenschule, Ernst-Reuter-School and Geschwister-Scholl-School are already under construction or should be largely completed. The Edith Stein School expansion has already been completed. The new high school is different, it’s still in the early stages of planning. The construction competition was therefore initially aimed at obtaining “a preliminary project of high architectural and urban planning quality”, as explained by the Municipality. To this end, a European-wide design competition for architectural firms and open-space planners was held in recent months. The jury met in early December and was made up of representatives of local politics and administration as well as experts in the field of architecture and landscape. Among the seventeen works presented, the jury chose the project by the consortium Hess/Talhof/Kusmierz Architects and Urban Planners with Burger Landscape Architects, both from Munich, as the best project. Three other projects have been awarded and one work has received recognition. The next step is a negotiation process, after which the order for the further planning of buildings and outdoor structures is expected to be issued in February, as Paul-Gerhard Weiß (FDP), head of the school department, planning and construction, he explains. In parallel, the procedures for the award of the other necessary specialist design services would continue. The works in the competition are said to be on public display this January. The city of Offenbach has yet to announce the location and period of the exhibition.
