Renovation of the stadium on Gellertstraße: City council to decide on additional measures before the renovation is completed

The proposed measures are intended to create the conditions for the stadium to be used as an event venue after completion. Further proposals relate to an urban development upgrade of the area surrounding the stadium. In addition, safety requirements and DFB guidelines have changed during the remodelling, which must be taken into account. At this stage, it is still possible to influence the quality of the interior design of the main building and the outdoor facilities.

Urban upgrading of the surrounding area

It is proposed that the outdoor facilities, which were only considered with a very simple surface paving in the tender for the construction of a football stadium, be upgraded. The new car parks to be created currently have a sand-slurry surface. The existing car park in front of the main building is already asphalted and surrounded by old walls towards the street. A higher-quality design of the new car parks, for example with partial asphalting and green areas, would not only bring them into line with the new stadium, but would also increase trafficability and usability and help to reduce maintenance costs many times over in the long term.

The qualitative upgrading of the stadium's surroundings would also increase the positive urban development effects for the Sonnenberg, which are already evident: In recent months, a private building owners' association has invested two million euros in a building on Heinrich-Schütz-Straße, which is to be converted into an age-appropriate residential project. Meanwhile, after years of unsuccessful searching, an investor has been found for the Esche-Stift directly next to the stadium who wants to partially preserve and convert the listed building.

Updated requirements and experience from previous use

At the same time, the conversion during ongoing match operations and the use of already completed areas offer the opportunity to carry out optimisations within the structure that would otherwise only have been identified after the stadium had been put into operation. This applies, for example, to the implementation of police security requirements, which can reduce the number of stewards and emergency services in the future through structural measures. In addition, the DFB's media guidelines have changed in the time since the award date, meaning that adjustments must be made to the current requirements that are decisive for licensing. For example, the space required for the location of the camera on the halfway line has increased by a third from four to six metres. This is to be taken into account by moving the camera location to a balcony construction under the roof of the stands.

Events and marketing

Rooms are to be created in the main building, for example with partition walls and multimedia connections, which can be used for events, seminars or corporate events. Private parties such as weddings or children's birthday parties could also be organised, as is often the case in other stadiums. This segment would complement the city's current offerings. Open-air events could also be organised in or around the stadium.

The additional marketing opportunities not only create further identification, but also offer marketing opportunities for Chemnitzer FC, which is obliged to pay a revenue-based lease and additional income for the club therefore also means additional income for the city. The fact that the new stadium attracts visitors is shown not only by the well-attended construction site tours, but also in particular by the growing number of spectators at home matches, which has already risen by twelve per cent to 110,410 guests in the 2014/15 season compared to the previous season.

Financing the additional measures proposed

The additional measures will be presented to the city council in two variants - a full and a reduced version. The latter would mean merely creating the conditions for some of the proposals in order to be able to carry out retrofits at a later date. There is also the option of selecting individual measures according to the modular principle. The additional costs for all the proposed measures total around €1.875 million. The total budget for the stadium remodelling of 25.24 million euros still includes 208,500 euros. According to the proposal, the additional 1.67 million euros required could be financed as follows: 653,000 euros are available from key investment allocations from the Free State. An additional 1.01 million euros are available from the budget for the refurbishment of technical facilities in the municipal swimming pool. At the moment, only the budget leftovers from 2014 have been spent on the municipal swimming pool. The budgeted funds of around €1.5 million for 2015 have not yet been allocated, which means that the specialist department believes that it cannot realistically be utilised this year due to the current state of planning and the necessary lead time. These funds could be utilised this year by reallocating them in the 2016 budget. The proposal has been agreed with the treasury and the sports department.

If the city council approves the commissioning of the additional measures, this will mean an extension of the construction period by around four and a half months.