The delays in the construction of the halls upset the plans of the Erdinger ice hockey department. The municipal utilities and the project manager explain why the association still has to be patient.
BY DIETER PRIGLMEIR
Erding - The Erding Gladiators have to postpone their entire preparation. Instead of September 1, you can only go on the ice from September 21. “It's quite a disaster,” says Rainier Sabus, chairman of the ice hockey department at TSV Erding. After all, not only the Bayernliga team is affected, but also all of the offspring. This has considerable effects in terms of sport and finance.
The bad news reached Sabus on Tuesday, August 11th. "Unfortunately we have to inform you that due to the construction site we will not be able to start ice processing as planned in the next week," wrote Robert Maier, the manager of the leisure facilities of the Erding municipal utility. He assumes that this will be possible from September 7th at the earliest. "Accordingly, the teams in the ice hockey department can probably go on the ice from September 21st."
For the gladiators, according to Sabus, this means a major disadvantage from a sporting point of view, "because we can start preparing three weeks later than our competitors". The test games that have already been agreed on from September 6th at EHC Klostersee as well as the home and away games against EC Pfaffenhofen and EV Dingolfing have already been canceled by Erdinger. “You can't let the boys play if they haven't had an ice age. The risk of injury would be far too great, ”says Sabus. All that remains are the two tests against the EHF Passau on September 25th and 27th, before the Bayern League starts with the hit against TEV Miesbach on October 2nd.
Sabus can understand that there are delays in the renovations to the ice rink, which cost around five million euros. “You are never immune to that on a construction project,” he says. The problem is that the news came at such short notice. "If we had had six weeks' lead time, we could still have responded."
The municipal utilities immediately informed the ice hockey department when it became clear that the deadline could not be kept, says its managing director Christopher Ruthner. “Unfortunately, parts of the construction work are being delayed. We're not going to get the ice rink completely sealed yet. ”It is not about the fact that instead of a 1a ice cream, you can only produce a 1b ice cream. At temperatures of 30 degrees, enormous moisture would form when the ice is made if the hall is not airtight, and this would lead to renewed damage. “And then you would have the next renovation case,” says Ruthner. Therefore, ice processing is simply not yet possible.
The fact that the hall renovation is not yet finished is probably also due to the fact that a company involved in the construction went on a 14-day company holiday right now. Project manager Tobias Eder does not want to leave that behind. "That is not right. It's not down to a single company. ”Rather, there are corona-related delivery bottlenecks for certain materials, so that some trades cannot be completed at the moment anyway. So there is absolutely no point in blaming a company.
Stadtwerke boss Ruthner reminds that the project has been running since 2017. A three-week delay is no reason to pillory the project manager, especially since surprises are always waiting for you in an old building. The Stadtwerke boss didn't want to go into any further detail. As an example, he named the mold growth in rooms that then had to be ventilated from the back.
He describes the accusation that too little work has been done on the construction site since winter as "rubbish". From the outside it is difficult to judge the construction activities.
Eder, who has to coordinate the work of 30 to 40 companies, sees it similarly. It is no secret that the order situation with the craftsmen is very good, which is why you have to "beg" the companies from time to time, but overall, in his opinion, you have done quite well. The architect also referred to drying times in various construction phases. Then nothing can be done "which might give observers the wrong impression". Eder also reminded them once again that when working on an old building, there are always unpleasant surprises such as mold.
And then there are also problems that nobody expects: the digital radio from the police and medical services did not work. Cables had to be re-laid, which devoured an additional five-figure amount, as Ruthner said. Ruthner was unable to confirm that the emergency exit was installed incorrectly in the already completed players' cabin (entrance to the inside). "But mistakes happen on the construction site, as everywhere else, which the company carrying out the work has to correct itself."
This emergency exit was installed the wrong way round.
© Wolfgang Krzizok
The ice hockey department at TSV Erding is now facing some clean-up work. The training camp in the junior division had to be canceled. “We had 125 registrations from U9 to U20 players. We lose 5000 euros in profit, ”says ice hockey boss Sabus.
All TSV junior teams play in the Bavarian League or in the highest Bavarian registration classes. The league starts on September 19th - two days before the Erdinger can go on the ice for the first time. Looking for other ice ages for the youth is not possible due to cost reasons. "You pay 150 to 200 euros an hour," says Sabus. So there is only one option left: “We are now trying to at least postpone the first games, but given the tight deadline, this will only be a week at most. We also hope that we can start with away games, ”says Sabus.
His fear: Talents are looking to other clubs that can start training earlier. "The parents in ice hockey are relatively ready to drive," he says. So it is quite possible that “some players will migrate and we will then have to replenish the teams with players from the younger age groups”. That would of course have an effect on the playing strength and also have consequences for the division into classes in the following year.
Sabus, whose executive team is currently desperately looking for training times in other halls, believes that nothing will change in the first squad. At EV Moosburg, slots are only free on working days before 4.30 p.m. “and nothing works on the weekend,” explains Sabus. In addition to the EVM, the EV Landshut and EV Aich have already secured times here. There are currently inquiries in Dorfen and Grafing. "Alternatively, a short camp in Mittenwald or Füssen would be an option," says the department head. After the German Ice Hockey Federation issued a travel warning for camps in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland, TSV Erding also had to cancel this option. "Although Switzerland would of course not have been an option for us for cost reasons," adds Sabus.
Incidentally, TSV Erding also pays the municipal utilities rent for the use of the ice rink. Parts of it flow back as a grant from the city of Erding. When looking for another source of money, the ice hackers would have liked to have given the hall to a sponsor. However, that was not necessary. The ice rink will be called the “Erdinger Stadtwerke-Arena” in future, as Ruthner confirms. That will be read on the facade - as soon as the hall is finished.