If Buchs gets the go-ahead from the canton, the town council can on 15. May vote on the deal. The city council is convinced of the need. The building would be built in 2023 at the station.
The makeshift theater of St. Gallen: It could already be at Buchs station next year. Image: Arthur Gamsa
The vacated building, which will have around 500 seats, will serve Theater St. Gallen is currently used as an alternative location due to the total renovation. The building has a large stage, baking rooms and a foyer with a catering area. For reasons of sustainability, it should be reused from 2023 at another location.
The cantonal government will soon decide which of the three bidding cities will be awarded the contract.
The store would be demolished on 15. May to the ballot box
According to a media release from the city of Buchs, costs of five to six million Swiss francs must be reckoned with. Should Buchs be awarded the contract, the citizens could vote on the 15. The final purchase will be decided at the ballot box in May. The plan is to erect the building next year at the Buchs train station. In the communication it is emphasized:
The city sees it as a unique opportunity to fulfill the long-standing need for a cultural and meeting center in Werdenberg and to take a big step forward together with the regional cultural and event scene
The costs for operation and maintenance are difficult to estimate. At present, running costs are expected to be between CHF 170000 and 220000. Most of these costs are to be allocated to a sponsor yet to be found.
An exterior view of the provisional building. Picture: Benjamin Manser
Despite the unfavorable timing, the city is convinced of the project
For the city council, the offer comes in the middle of the discussion about the city’s finances at a very unfavorable time, of which they are aware. A cultural and meeting center for the Werdenberg has been an important concern for many years.
The city council considers it "a unique opportunity to fulfill the long-standing need for a cultural and meeting center in Werdenberg and to make a big step forward together with the regional cultural and event scene."
The cantonal Department of Construction and the Environment offered the vacant building to the St. Gallen University Hospital towards the end of last year.The center has been offered for takeover by the municipalities of Galler. It is to be demolished in 2023 and reused in another location for reasons of sustainability.
The government of the canton of St.Gallen will decide next which of the three bidding cities will be awarded the contract.
"Extremely favorable compared to the KUB at that time"
If the bid is accepted, costs in the range of 5 to 6 million Swiss francs can be expected, according to a media release. These cover the dismantling in St. Gallen, the transport, the reconstruction in Buchs and the development of the parcel of land to be considered in the first place. This is located at the Buchs train station at the so-called "Theaterplatz".
The costs for operation and maintenance are difficult to estimate. At present, running costs of about 170,000 to 220,000 Swiss francs are to be expected, which, however, are to be allocated as far as possible to the sponsorship yet to be found.
Compared to the KUB (Werdenberg Culture and Meeting Center) planned in 2005, with cost estimates at the time of around 20 million Swiss francs, the offer is extraordinarily favorable from the point of view of the Buchser authority.
The object also has a large foyer. Picture: Benjamin Manser
Support from the music school, Krempel and IG Kulturhaus Werdenberg
A cultural and meeting center for the Werdenberg has been an important concern for many years. Several requests and intensive clarifications would prove that the need still exists and is also proven.
From the point of view of the city council, the various positive signals from the region and from various cultural institutions are also important, which have promised both idealistic commitment in the further process and support in the search for financing possibilities in addition to the public sector.
The Werdenberg Music School, the Krempel and the IG Kulturhaus Werdenberg, for example, have so far expressed their support for the project.
According to the city council, the desired cultural center will not compete with the local cultural offerings. Picture: Arthur Gamsa
The offer would be open to all
The city council has intensively dealt with this and assessed the potential, the importance for the Werdenberg cultural and event scene as well as the value creation possibilities. As widely discussed years ago, the new cultural building would be open to all Werdenberg communities, companies, clubs or even schools, the statement continues.
Cultural offerings should not be competed with
The temporary theater can be used for a variety of purposes and is suitable for concerts, musicals, anniversaries, company events, large delegates’ meetings or educational and business forums, for example.
It should be emphasized that the new acquisition is not intended to compete with the existing valuable cultural offerings in the city and Werdenberg, which have grown over many years, but merely to complement them.
"The decisive factors for the application for the temporary theater were the convincing offer, the impulses that the object can trigger for Buchs and the region, and the hope of many, which has still existed for many years, to eventually come to a cultural and meeting center after all".