"Offen denken V" on November 16: The town hall pavilion as a cultural laboratory / Invitation to creative artists and associations

If you stroll through Offenbach's city center with an alert eye and head towards the town hall from Frankfurter Straße, you will come across the three-part ensemble of the town hall pavilion. "An open space for an open city" can be read there and if you let your gaze wander and take in the space, you will come across young people meeting in the youth room or cycling enthusiasts exchanging ideas in the bike room. "The third and largest room of the pavilion, which was built in 1972, is designed as a multifunctional, open space for the urban community," explains Anna-Maria Rose from Agentur Mitte, which is part of the business development agency. Together with a small team, she has been using the building for a good year with different content and actors. For example, the artist group yrd.Works was a guest at the beginning of this year with "SOUPS", there were exhibitions, a flea market, a ceramics kiosk, a release party, concerts and much more. So far, she has not been able to complain about a lack of response; on the contrary, the address has already established itself with many people and has brought additional life to the city center, especially in the summer months. "There was always something going on outside my window," says Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke. "Cyclists would meet up for a tour, people would play table tennis or have a leisurely coffee." The plan is to continue in this vein, and the next event with the urban community will take place on November 16 so that the concept can spread further.

"Offen denken V" invites cultural workers, associations and initiators to discuss additional uses for the town hall pavilion in the city centre and to concretize ideas. A space for exhibitions, creative events, workshops, readings, cinema or concerts? "The town hall pavilion is a grab bag, a space for the best ideas and boldest dreams," says Rose, hoping for many participants. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a discussion and then moves on to an informal exchange of ideas until 10 p.m. Registration is not required.

Image information:

Invitation, City of Offenbach/ Agentur Mitte

More information on the city center future concept:

"Exactly what experts had predicted is happening in city centers right now. That's why we set out in 2020 with the people of Offenbach and the planners from Hamburg-based urbanista and developed 14 future projects to revitalize the city centre," said Mayor Schwenke.

The future concept for the city center includes ideas and offers to strengthen the heart of the city as a place for new ideas, experiences and exchange between citizens. "Anyone who walks through the city with open eyes can see how the city center is suffering from this shrinking of retail," Schwenke continued. "Our aim is to keep as much retail as possible, which is why we need to support the remaining retailers. But it is also absolutely clear that things will never be the same again. We are therefore fighting with all our might to mitigate the impact on the city center and to contribute to a new city center with new projects. The transformation process has begun, the first projects have already been initiated and more will follow. And we now want to accelerate the implementation with additional positions for Agentur Mitte."

Further information online at www.offenbach.de/zukunft-innenstadt