Now the district council has closed the bag: After many discussions it is now clear that the new gym of the Weilheimer Gymnasium will get a wooden facade.
However, as was to be expected, not everyone is happy about that.
Weilheim
- When Markus Loth raised his arm, it was already clear that the decision had been made. The mayor of Weilheim received support from Wildsteig's town hall chief, Josef Taffertshofer. And six other people present also voted against the proposal in the Peißenberg Tiefstollenhalle to clad the new gym of the Weilheimer Gymnasium with wood. But they were clearly outnumbered. The rest of the district council members decided to have the original plan changed.
The building was actually supposed to be clad with fiber cement panels.
But there was resistance, so the district council had instructed the administration to check how much wood was still possible in the new building.
As already presented in the district committee, the district council was now also told that only changing the facade design would make sense - a change to the roof or even the entire building would have had an impact on the statics, the costs and the construction time.
In addition to appearance and costs, there are also ecological aspects
Wooden cladding, on the other hand, has a financial impact. According to the planners, it should be around 180,000 euros more. Robert Goldbrunner (Free Voters) did not want to leave that. The planners' calculations do not always correspond to the actual costs. "It's the bane of the first number," he said. In his experience, fiber cement panels are “not really cheaper”. Goldbrunner, himself a master carpenter, advertised wood in the district council as in the district committee. "It would be a shame to clad concrete with concrete." The planned slabs are "an industrial product, but trees grow outside". The image of a gym with wooden cladding, with vertical slats attached, was chosen unfavorably. "There are much nicer facades made of wood."
In addition to appearance and costs, the ecological aspect also played a role in many of the requests to speak. "It is very important to also consider the aspect of sustainability," said Peter Maier (Die Linke) - that is, where the material comes from, how it is manufactured and how it can be disposed of again later.
Maier also asked whether the building was actually barrier-free and not just low-barrier.
This point was also important to Susann Enders (Free Voters).
So far there is only one gym in the district where wheelchair sports are possible - namely in the one at the Weilheim middle school.
This is why you should pay attention to this possibility of use when building a new building.
She suggested bringing the district disability officer on board, so that things like door openers are also taken into account in addition to the elevator and handicapped-accessible toilets.
"I'm with you," said Georg Leis, manager of the district office, gladly accepting the suggestion.
Installation of air heat pumps planned
The administration also noted another request to speak - one on the planned, regenerative heating. Originally the supply was intended through the school. But for environmental reasons and because there are subsidies, an air heat pump is now to be installed - the district council later unanimously agreed. Before that, Stefan Emeis (Greens) suggested that the possibility of a ground heat pump should also be examined. Leis agreed.
Other requests to speak were taken less seriously. For example, Brigitte Gronau's (Greens) idea of installing photovoltaic modules on the east facade. “We need electricity for the school during the day and it would be a bit of a relief,” she said. But district treasurer Norbert Merk brushed the request aside. "We cannot start planning again at the phase we are in now," he grumbled. “Please, please, please, don't let a moving train derail at the last switch.” Because every rescheduling entails time delays and additional costs. Florian Steinbach, head of the building and property management of the district, complained that even the change to the wooden facade had consequences. By examining the possibilities, three quarters of a year had been lost."That has already cost us a six-figure sum." He asked to "close the sack now".
Manuela Vanni (Independent) was annoyed by the indirect accusation that the district council was delaying construction with its ideas.
"If you had paid more attention to the energetic aspects from the start, another suggestion would have been worked out," she noted - and also suggested untreated larch wood for the future facade.
Type of wood not yet clear
The type of wood was not then voted on, but the basic material for the cladding was.
By the time the vote began, Loth's words were long gone for most.
The mayor of Weilheim had once again campaigned for fiber cement panels.
“Just because we are installing a wooden facade doesn't make it more ecological,” he complained and also criticized the casual way in which the money was handled.
"Now we have decided on a supplementary budget and then cut out an additional 200,000 euros for a facade." Yes, the district council did - with only eight votes against.