Use of main station: feasibility study commissioned
14.02.2020 – In autumn 2017, the Offenbach Central Station Initiative was founded with the aim of developing the central station as a public space for art, culture and social affairs. Since then, various events and meetings have been held to raise public awareness of the property, which has been vacant for many years.
Together with the city of Offenbach, a feasibility study has now been put out to tender in order to determine the possibilities and limits of future use more precisely. The Berlin-based agency BahnStadt/stationova was awarded the contract and impressed with its experience, including the conversion of Cuxhaven's main station.
"The fact that Offenbach's main railway station has led a dreary existence for many years is not solely the responsibility of the city of Offenbach," emphasizes Paul-Gerhard Weiß, Head of Building. He welcomes the activities to reactivate and renovate the building: "I am very excited to see what will happen in the coming months and what form of use we can expect."
At the end of January, representatives of the Offenbach Main Station Initiative, the City of Offenbach, the owner Deutsche Bahn and the Berlin agency BahnStadt/stationova met on site for the first time to discuss the timetable for the feasibility study to develop various usage scenarios and a comprehensive profitability calculation in relation to the purchase, refurbishment and operation of the historic station building. "We have received inquiries from potential future tenants and many exciting usage ideas and suggestions. Our own, but also requests that have come to us from the public. Now the professionals from the agency specializing in the conversion of train stations have to see what is possible and to what extent," explains Kai Schmidt, spokesperson for the Hauptbahnhof initiative.
The hfg University of Art and Design is another partner involved. Kai Vöckler, urbanist and professor, is supporting the project for the hfg and could imagine a center for mobility design in the building as part of the LOEWE research focus "Infrastructure - Design - Society".
Marion Rüber-Steins from the Office for Urban Planning, Transport and Construction Management assumes that revitalizing the building will also provide an impetus for the surrounding districts: "Above all, it is important to find out the framework conditions for the subsequent use of the historic reception building so that a well-founded decision can be made about its future use."
After all, the building is located in the middle of the ten-year HEGISS Südliche Innenstadt development program, which aims to improve the overall quality of life in the district.