Updated: 11.09.202020:11
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fromFabian Scheuermann
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conclude
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The construction work for the marketplace renovation is not expected to begin until spring 2021. New in the planning are more green areas and a drinking water fountain.
A bus stop with a green roof and a fountain with free drinking water: The Offenbach city administration has added these elements to the plans for the market square redesign. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why the start of construction on the major project has been postponed by another six months: Instead of this autumn, the excavators are not due to start rolling until spring 2021.
The city council approved the project by a majority on Thursday evening, while the SPD and AfD in particular voted against it. The core area of the market square between Frankfurter Strasse and Geleitsstrasse is to be converted for around 5.5 million euros – 3.2 million euros paid by the city. In order to increase the quality of stay, the sidewalks will be widened and the surfaces will be made barrier-free. In future, bicycles will be allowed to travel in both directions on part of the “Tempo 20” zone, which is used by buses and cars. The most visible change will be the new, greened steel roof of the bus stop, which is supposed to be reminiscent of tree tops that are intertwined. It is not yet clear where the drinking water well will be installed.
The limited speaking times in Offenbach’s city parliament due to the corona pandemic – you don’t want to spend too long together in one room – did not allow for a lively debate on the planned renovation on Thursday evening. However, the SPD city councilor Maria Böttcher criticized the fact that the planning did not reveal “any return to the original marketplace”. Planning department head Paul-Gerhard Weiß (FDP) replied that one should not “throw sand in the gears” but “reflect on what we have in common”.
A long way
The first plans for the marketplace renovation come from the time of ex-Mayor Horst Schneider (SPD). He wanted to ban buses and cars in order to increase the quality of stay and to remove the separating effect between the pedestrian zone and Wilhelmsplatz. After the local elections in 2016 and the new coalition of CDU, Greens, FDP and Free Voters, there was no longer a majority in favor. In November 2017, a smaller variant was then decided that keeps cars and buses. It should start in July 2018. But shortly before that came the end: There was only one offer in response to the tender, which at 8.5 million euros was around 70 percent above the planned costs. In December 2019, the city parliament then voted for another revised plan, which has now been supplemented again and is to be implemented from 2021.
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The fact is that the SPD under ex-Mayor Horst Schneider had pursued a much more far-reaching renovation of the marketplace, including relocating the bus stop and banning all cars. This through traffic is one reason why the long space between the pedestrian zone and Wilhelmsplatz seems so forbidding.
There had been criticism in advance of the costs for the supplements, green roof and drinking water. The roof, on which herbs, grasses and stonecrop will grow, including lighting, costs 76,000 euros. The fountain is estimated at 39,000 euros. The state pays 90 percent of the costs. “The greening of the roof enhances the appearance and improves the microclimate,” said Department Head Weiß, praising the project.
Also on Thursday, the city council approved the development plan for the seven-storey residential and commercial building that is to be built at the northern end of the market square on Berliner Straße.
This project was approved by a significantly larger majority than the marketplace conversion. The FDP city councilor Oliver Stirböck summed up his joy as follows: “A rotten block is replaced by something new!”
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