Pedestrian tunnel at the main railway station is completed
Invitation to the on-site appointment on Wednesday, 22 December, 10 a.m., with artist and master locksmith
The redesign of the pedestrian tunnel at the main railway station, which connects Mauerstraße with Dresdner Straße - popularly known as the Bazillenröhre - is in its final stages. The letters for the wall design are currently being installed, completing the lighting concept by Chemnitz artist Anke Neumann.
There will be an on-site appointment with the artist and master locksmith Thomas Altenkirch, who made the letters according to Anke Neumann's design, on Wednesday 22 December. The meeting point is 10 am in the tunnel.
Media representatives are cordially invited to attend.
In 2014, the urban planning office drew up an integrated action plan to support the development of disadvantaged neighbourhoods with EU funding in the period from 2015 to 2022. The need to improve a fear-free connection between Sonnenberg and the city centre was raised by the district's residents. Ideas were developed in workshops with Sonnenberg residents and a competition for artists was launched. This was won by Anke Neumann from Chemnitz in 2015, whose concept envisages a light strip on the ceiling of the tunnel that creates different lighting moods. In addition, 1.40 metre high letters will be attached to each of the two walls, creating the statement "I'd like to be less like me, a little more like you". This comes from the song "Wie ich" by the Chemnitz band Kraftklub.
At the end of 2015, the "ERDF-Chemnitz city centre" development area was included in the Sustainable Integrated Urban Development funding programme. Planning could therefore begin in 2016 and the funding application was finally approved in 2018. For the project, the city not only had to coordinate with the owner of the tunnel, Deutsche Bahn, but also with the monument protection authorities and the AG Barrier-free Building Association to ensure that the ramp could also be used by wheelchair users. It was also necessary to clarify whether eins energie in Sachsen would contribute to the costs and how the lighting would be realised.
The actual refurbishment could only begin once the new passenger tunnel from the main railway station, in the immediate vicinity of the Bazillen tube, had been completed. The entrance structures and the tunnel tube have therefore been renovated in two construction phases since June 2020. The tunnel was finally opened in November 2021 and is now being completed with the installation of the letters.
The total construction costs for the city (excluding the lighting installation of eins energie) amount to around 1.18 million euros, of which 880,000 euros are for the entrance structures and around 330,000 euros for the renovation of the tunnel tube. 80 percent of the costs are subsidised by European funds from the European Structural Fund ERDF from the above-mentioned programme.