The cantonal council gives the green light for the renovation of the town hall

The cantonal council has approved the renovation of the Zurich town hall. The conversion will cost between CHF 20 and 33 million and should be completed by 2027.

—

Zurich’s town hall on the Limmat is being extensively renovated: on Monday, the cantonal council commissioned the building department to tackle the project. The council has rejected a new location, as demanded by some council members.

Parliament passed the conversion resolution by 104 votes to 67 with 3 abstentions. With this decision, the building department can now announce an architectural competition and plan the project in concrete terms. In 2027, the historic building should be completely renovated.

It is not yet clear what the town hall will look like in the future. However, the building management under Martin Neukom (Greens) is planning to pull an additional floor into today’s council chamber. The hall with the high ceiling would thus become two floors. The meetings of the cantonal and municipal councils will then take place on the upper floor.

Refurbishment causes some dissatisfaction

–

An additional 210 square meter hall would be created underneath, which could be used as a lobby or for representative events. “We’re getting the maximum out of this project,” said Neukom. Depending on the detailed project, it should cost between 20 and 33 million francs.

But not everyone was satisfied on Monday. Many parliamentarians would have preferred to return from their Corona exile to something more modern. “This renovation brings no real added value,” said Markus Schaaf (EVP, Zell). “We’ll miss an opportunity if we stay there.” The SP was of the same opinion and would have preferred to decide on a new building right away. The old, cramped town hall is a worthy building, but it has survived its time, said Andrew Katumba (Zurich).

Several council members mentioned the barracks or the Papierwerd area, where the provisional globe is now, as new locations. “Central and cheap” is hardly possible in Zurich, as council members from left to right remarked. In addition, it would be many more years before the Council would have its own meeting place again. An alternative location was therefore rejected.

Fire «almost impossible»

However, many council members criticized the fact that the security situation did not really improve with the conversion. As before, there will be no second escape route because an outside staircase is not possible for reasons of monument protection.

According to Yvonne Bürgin (middle, Rüti), a fire in the renovated town hall is “almost impossible”. This building will be safe. It is important to her that the council members can look each other in the eye when debating. “There needs to be a certain closeness. That’s almost impossible in a large hall like the current one in Oerlikon.”

The SVP was also against a new location. The conversion costs are too high for her anyway, regardless of whether they amount to 20 or 33 million francs. “The taxpayer has no concrete benefit from this project,” said Pierre Dalcher (Schlieren). In order to create more space per person in the old town hall, the SVP also proposed making the parliament significantly smaller. She is now submitting a corresponding proposal.

The people’s representatives will have to do without the historic setting on the Limmat for a few more years. In the current year they remain in their Corona exile in Oerlikon. In 2023, the council operations will then be relocated to the vacant Bullingerkirche for four years. During this time, the conversion will be completed on the Limmatquai, at the same time as the conversion of the Rathausbrücke. (sda)