The parliamentary group of the free voters and FÜR Karlsruhe made an inquiry about the exploding costs of the renovation measures at the Badisches Staatstheater . It is also about postponing the construction work in view of the current financial situation.
“The city’s finances are looking bleak at the moment. One of the largest items is the state theatre, whose estimated renovation costs will exceed half a billion even before the actual construction work,” explains parliamentary group leader Jürgen Wenzel. “We now need clear information about the calculation of the costs and their development”. The parliamentary group also asks what would happen if the start of the measures was postponed in order to protect the city’s budget. It must also be clarified how the country would react to such an approach.
“With the construction costs that have just become known, one would have to think again about building a new one right away,” says City Councilor Friedemann Kalmbach, “that could be cheaper and should definitely be checked as well”. In her speech on the municipal budget, Petra Lorenz therefore warns: “Each of you must agree with your conscience and before the state whether a conversion of the state theater with 500 million plus x is still justifiable
responsible to the citizens!”
The renovation of the Badisches Staatstheater was estimated in 2015 at a cost of 125 million euros. At that time, the Lord Mayor assured that the cost cap of 125 million would not be exceeded under any circumstances; The answer from the administration: “The total costs of 125 million euros were determined using a test draft of cost parameters and agreed as the upper cost limit between the state and the city.” At that time, however, it also became known that a well-known architect’s office had not even participated in the tender on the grounds that the required specifications for the theater conversion and new building could not be implemented with the given budget. In 2017, the costs were surprisingly estimated at 325 million euros, three years later it is now assumed to be 500 million euros. “In the tense financial situation of the city of Karlsruhe, the implementation at this point in time or in the current way does not seem justifiable to us, especially since very few people expect it to stay that way when there is demand,” summarizes the parliamentary group.
