Nordic center for Saalfelden saved
politics
The Nordic Center in Saalfelden (Pinzgau) is now being completed. That was decided on Friday at a crisis summit. Background: Costs have recently doubled to a whopping eight million euros. This brought the temporary halt to construction. Now the cases at the city, state and federal level have been combined into a savings variant.
The ambitious project wobbled up until Friday afternoon. The originally announced four million euros for conversion and expansion already seemed to be a financial feat at the groundbreaking. In the last few months, however, the construction costs have gotten completely out of hand. Suddenly it’s about eight million euros.
State Council refers to general crisis
Sports Councilor Stefan Schnöll (ÖVP) says it is a mixture of factors: “It’s about the increased construction costs, which everyone knows from their own environment. In addition, there are higher energy costs due to the Ukraine crisis. Up to the cost of demolition. They exploded too. And the planning is taking a long time. This also made it necessary to adapt the project.”
Controversial scooter route saved
The centerpiece is a new 85 meter ski jump, which will also be equipped for summer operations. There are also warm-up rooms for the active athletes and a new judges’ tower. The plans for the cross-country skiing center at Ritzensee, including technical snowmaking, are also to be implemented.
Section shifted in the distant future
The planned ski-roller route for summer cross-country training is not coming for the time being, says Saalfelden Mayor Erich Rohrmoser (SPÖ): “The situation there is difficult. This is our recreation area. We have now agreed that it is the wrong location. We are now looking for alternatives where we might be able to do that in the distant future.”
Schnöll: “The project will not be buried”
We want to continue to slim down and save. That was the basic tenor at this crisis summit. However, according to Provincial Councilor Schnöll, certain aspects of the project are no longer being questioned: “We are convinced that this Nordic performance center is incredibly important for the city, the state and the federal government. In addition, there is Saalfelden as a school location, so a lot depends on it. Just burying the project like that is out of the question for all partners.”
According to the new concept, the additional costs run to 1.8 to two million euros – no longer four. The compromise solution still has to be approved. The construction work could be finished in two years, if nothing is impaled.