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Berlin City Palace: predetermined breaking points before the opening
Photo:
Joko / imago images
Seven years after the foundation stone was laid, the rebuilt Berlin City Palace is due to open in mid-December, at least in part.
The council of the Humboldt Forum Foundation, which will be the main user of the building, met on Tuesday.
Not all members of the committee were then convinced that the opening next month could be guaranteed.
The documents made available to the board of trustees sound at least unsettling.
It was not until Tuesday that a construction report for the 2nd quarter of 2020 was submitted - with an astonishing delay - it says: "The partial opening on December 17, 2020 remains very risky."
A report on the third quarter, which ended on September 30th, is apparently still pending.
Late on security issues
The table template for yesterday's (virtually) meeting shows how many doubts there are about its functionality;
exams and re-examinations are still being carried out these days.
Several apparently still critical points were listed as examples, for example that all external doors had to work and be lockable until November 23rd and "access management" had to be possible "without obstacles".
They seem to be late, especially when it comes to security issues.
The "entire security management system with the security control center" is not to be commissioned until the end of November.
"Inadequacies" have already been documented in the area of safety lighting.
Apparently it looks similar with the exhibition rooms.
They should not be accessible to the public until next year.
But to do this, a stable room climate must be guaranteed by mid-November.
According to the latest session template, it doesn't look like that.
We are talking about humidity values that still fluctuate "too much".
The reasons for this would have to be "investigated and eliminated".
The refrigeration technology is also worrying: a week ago there was an "accident", there was a "glycol leak", i.e. the leakage of a toxic alcohol used as a coolant or antifreeze.
Now you have to "question" the security concept in this regard.
There is talk of a total of 2,000 deficiencies that cannot be remedied by the time it is opened - two members of the Foundation Council told SPIEGEL.
Hans-Dieter Hegner, Head of Construction at the Humboldt Forum Foundation, does not want to name a number.
Just this much: Compared to other major projects, there are not very many.
The glycol leak has already been fixed, he emphasizes.
However, he had pointed out for a long time that there were still "risks and predetermined breaking points";
the building has extremely complex systems, and there is no time for important test runs.
The state of emergency caused by the pandemic makes things even more difficult: "Programmers can also get sick."
Of course you are in a "fragile situation".
For the time being, one will be able to live with some "insignificant" shortcomings;
Maintaining a construction site also costs tax money and should therefore not be dragged on.
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Construction board member Hegner is therefore assuming that the opening will be on time.
Two members of the Board of Trustees are less optimistic.
One member believes they will "stumble into" the planned partial opening and blame any defects and mishaps on the necessary corona measures.
Another member expressed greater doubts.
It is "only 50 percent likely" that parts of the palace will be opened on December 17th.
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