The Volt faction in the Römer views the planned leasing of a former office building in Stephensonstraße, among others for the Berta-Jourdan-Schulen, critically according to the current status. From the faction’s perspective, what was originally a sensible examination of an interim solution has turned into an oversized project.
The Berta-Jourdan-Schulen indisputably require larger premises. “Planning Phase 0” resulted in a space requirement of around 15,300 square meters for this. However, the proposal now at hand provides for a usage of over 37,000 square meters for the vocational schools – in total, almost 47,000 square meters are to be leased. A comprehensible justification for this expansion is currently missing.
The originally planned accommodation of the Evening, General, and Intermediate School (Abend-, Haupt- und Realschule) is now obsolete, as it is to become part of a new campus for adult education in the Ostend. The Gallus district library is also intended to return to its previous location in the long term. The Media Center has extended its existing lease until 2031 and cannot handle the additional rental costs. Further ideas – such as housing the Experiminta – also fail due to financial realities. Thus, effectively only the Berta-Jourdan-Schulen themselves and possibly a daycare center remain as permanent users. Even with generous dimensioning, this results in a space requirement of a maximum of around 20,000 square meters according to the Volt faction’s estimate, which corresponds to less than half of the planned lease.
“Changed framework conditions require an adjustment of the project,” says Britta Wollkopf, education policy spokesperson for Volt in the Römer. “In doing so, the goal of promptly finding a solution for the Berta-Jourdan-Schule must not be lost from sight. But there must also be a serious search for alternative solutions. The starting point must be a realistic supply of space. Whether this happens through a smaller lease, municipal properties, or through accelerated new construction must be examined with an open mind regarding the outcome.”
Should Stephensonstraße remain under discussion despite known inefficiencies and high costs, a comprehensive and financially viable usage concept for the entire area to be leased is required first. “The fact that expensive office buildings have already been leased for school purposes in the past is, in our view, not a substantive argument. Such projects must remain the absolute exception; otherwise, enormous follow-up costs loom without an apparent strategy for the educational landscape,” Britta Wollkopf concluded.
