The city is again without a tenant for the Rathauscafé.
The two women who wanted to open a combination pastry shop and eatery have canceled.
The Rathauscafé in Wolfratshausen has been empty since May 2019
Rita Schmid from Café Ratscherl wanted to breathe new life into it with a business partner
Since the city council rejects expensive conversions in the basement, the two throw in the towel
Wolfratshausen
- The dark clouds had been brewing over the Rathauscafé for months.
Now the designated landlady of the municipal property is letting the cat out of the bag: "We have informed the city that we will not take over the café," says Rita Schmid when asked by our newspaper.
She and her business partner Barbara Schramm-Kastl informed the town hall in writing.
The reason for the end: the city council had decided not to renovate the basement of the building on the Loisachufer.
The estimated costs of one million euros for the “maximum solution” preferred by Schmid were too high for the committee.
The municipality now has no tenants for the prominent property.
For Schmid it was “a complete shock” when she found out on the visitors' gallery during the city council meeting in the Loisachhalle that her “big dream” was about to burst.
The city council rejected the plan to set up a production facility in the basement of the building, which would have cost around 300,000 euros - the “maximum solution”, which cost around one million euros, was too much for the council.
"We discussed several times in advance that we and our concept couldn't go on without these rooms," says Schmid looking back.
She could not work with a single kitchen on the ground floor: “Where we prepare lunch and breakfast, we cannot also make cakes, gateaux and chocolates.” In discussions with the city, “that was never even an issue the cellar may not be prepared, ”emphasizes the 68-year-old.
She was caught off guard by the decision.
She was "very, very disappointed".
A dream has burst for Rita Schmid
The restaurateur made this clear after the July meeting - and in this context publicly expressed criticism of the city council, which she felt was “callously dealt with” and “thwarted”.
She announced that she needed some time to think about it, in which she wanted to decide whether a town hall café without a production facility in the basement could somehow be implemented.
The result: “No chance, unfortunately.
And that hurts very, very much. ”For Schmid, who has been running the Kaffee Ratscherl on Königsdörfer Strasse for eight years, a dream is bursting.
“I am convinced that our concept is good and that the café would go well.” With a combination of pastry shop and eatery, she wanted to guide many guests to the property between Marktstrasse and Loisach - if it weren't for the problem with the basement renovation.
“It is definitely not possible to finance these measures yourself,” says Schmid.
In addition to new equipment and equipment for the café, “we can't do it financially”.
She would have expected exactly that from the city, which has invested "almost nothing" in the café over the past 25 years.
The city will probably look for a new tenant by tendering
How things will continue with the Rathauscafé is now in the stars - just like Schmid's personal future.
She had already terminated the lease for her previous company months ago;
“Independent of the Rathauscafé”, as she had explained early on.
Since it became known that she would be awarded the municipal property, she has stopped looking for a new location.
“Maybe everything will be over for us in three weeks,” says Schmid, who runs the Ratscherl with her daughter Hedwig.
That is how long the contract on Königsdorfer Strasse is still running - and only because the next tenant accommodated the 68-year-old, who should have moved out in August.
Schmid “doesn't know if there is anything else going on for us”, but she doesn't have high hopes for a quick new start.
Even the councilors in the Rathauscafé can hardly hope for that.
After Schmids and Schramm-Kastl's exit, the municipality would like to find a new tenant for the café on the Loisachufer, which has been vacant since May 2019.
Town hall chief Klaus Heilinglechner last announced this approach.
The mayor could not be reached to comment on the current developments due to the holiday.
Dominik Stallein
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