Construction work for draining the old and new town halls approved

At its meeting yesterday, the Chemnitz City Council approved the construction work to dry out the Old and New Chemnitz City Hall, Markt 1 (B-133/2012). The work on the two listed buildings is to be realised between 2013 and 2015, while the base of the Old Town Hall will be cleaned at a later date as part of another construction project.

Following last year's extensive refurbishment of the façade of the New Town Hall to mark the 100th anniversary of Chemnitz's New Town Hall, the construction work in the town hall continues. The reason for this is that the basements of both parts of the building have extensive moisture damage. Experts from the city's building management department assume that damage to the interior of both town hall buildings is due to the penetration of moisture as well as defective light shafts and drainage systems. As most of the moisture is penetrating via the exterior walls, the aim now is to dry out the building fabric with vertical waterproofing. Technical investigations and planning have now been finalised.

The complex project can be carried out over a longer period of time, not only due to the weather, but also for cost reasons: the city is splitting the budget of a good 1.2 million euros available for the drainage work over the years 2013 with 400.The city is putting the entire construction work out to tender, with the work to be carried out in individual stages. Work is to begin at the New Town Hall in the area of the main entrance and the Ratskeller (Neumarkt) as well as on parts of the south side.