Stadium remodelling: New schedule presented
The new timetable for the stadium renovation was presented to the city councillors on Thursday evening in the administration and finance committee.
After the state directorate rejected the originally planned project structure with the municipal subsidiary GGG as the client at the end of August, the city took over the client function.
In a meeting between the city administration, the Ministry of the Interior and the state directorate, a solution was then agreed whereby the city would now act as the client and take out the necessary loan for the stadium remodelling itself. In addition, all of GGG's previous procedural steps were to be taken over.
New contractual regulations and a supplementary budget had to be drawn up for this, which will be presented to the city council for a decision on 14 November. No contract may be awarded to the general contractor until this decision has been made.
At the same time, the takeover of all services provided by GGG was prepared. Almost all previous procedural steps, for example the master planning, can be taken over. At the same time, however, the comprehensive examination of the variant recommended by the state directorate has shown that one point cannot be adopted: the competition for participation in the public tender (pre-qualification) for the general contractor's services. The city will therefore repeat this step. After thorough consideration, it became clear that taking over the contract from GGG would have meant a risk in terms of public procurement law if the change of client was not known to the bidders from the outset.
This delayed the schedule by around three to four months, despite all the efforts of the parties involved. This means that the contract can be awarded to the general contractor at the beginning of May 2013.
"I would rather have the new stadium today than tomorrow. But in the interests of the entire project, we have to take this one step back to ensure that none of the bidders can sue due to the change of contractor," said Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig.
This results in the following new timeline:
| Timeline | previous | New |
|---|---|---|
| Dispatch of the tender documents to the pre-qualified bidders | 07.09.12 | End of 11/12 |
| Processing by the bidders (approx. ten weeks) | from 10/09/12 | From the end of 11/12 |
| Review of bids and negotiations | 11/12 to 01/13 | 02/13 to 04/13 |
| Award of contract | Beginning 02/13 | Beginning 05/13 |
After the city councillors, Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig and CFC CEO Dr Mathias Hänel will also inform the members of the club's fan interest group next Tuesday.
For its part, the CFC is endeavouring to extend the special permit required to play matches in the old stadium in agreement with the German Football Association (DFB). Mayor Barbara Ludwig will support the club in this endeavour.
The DFB has been informed of the new situation by Chemnitzer FC.
If the timetable now presented is adhered to, the DFB will favourably consider an extension of the special permit, which has already been extended once, as part of the 2013/2014 approval procedure.
Both sides will remain in continuous dialogue regarding the status of the project.