City council approves conversion, revitalization and change of use of the town hall pavilion

The town hall pavilion needs to be renovated and is to be given a new use. For this reason, the Offenbach City Council decided at its meeting on March 6 to renovate the Rathaus-Pavillon, subject to the approval of the city councillors, and to commission Agentur Mitte, which is part of the city's business development department, to find a new operator for the Rathaus-Pavillon. The city council is thus implementing the city councillors' resolution on the "City Center Future Concept" of 18 June 2020, in which the conversion and redesign of the town hall pavilion was defined as one of a total of 16 key projects.

Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke explains: "The city centre is the heart of our city. However, it is no longer the way many people imagine and want their city center to be. But don't kid yourself: it will never be the same again. That is why we are working with the future concept to create new and different offers, occasions and reasons to visit the city center. The town hall pavilion is an ideal place where people can come together. We have already created temporary facilities there in the form of the jugendraum, the radraum and the stadtraum, which have been used and visited by numerous Offenbach residents. We now want to secure and expand this potential of the pavilion on a permanent basis. However, this is not possible with the current structural condition of the building. In order to make this permanent use possible, we have now taken the decision to renovate the building. At the same time, we are looking for a future operator who will implement a concept that takes into account the objectives of our future concept for the city center."

The total costs for the conversion, revitalization and change of use amount to around 3.8 million euros, including planning costs and fiduciary handling by OPG Offenbacher Projektentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH. The refurbishment should be completed by the end of 2025.

If the city councillors approve the project at their meeting on March 21, the search for a new operator can also begin. Agentur Mitte will be tasked with drawing up the future usage concept and approaching potential operators. Ideally, the contract should be awarded before the end of the conversion phase so that the interior fit-out can be planned and implemented by the future operator without delay. There will be a final political decision to award the contract.

The conversion of the town hall pavilion is one of 16 future projects in the city center future concept. Since May 2023, three temporary projects have been offering various events and spaces there for use by associations, initiatives, artists, cultural workers and other stakeholders. For the current temporary use, which ends in June, Agentur Mitte designed the "stadtraum" as an open, low-threshold event venue. "stadtraum has shown that Offenbach's residents, initiatives and associations are looking for an open offer and that this also has a positive impact on the surrounding area," says Lord Mayor Schwenke. "The stadtraum has brought new offerings and quality and thus provided exactly the impetus that we want for the city center as a lively meeting place. In a way, it is the blueprint for the future utilization concept."

The operators of the two other projects "jugendraum" and "radraum" are also working hard to find new premises. The aim is to further develop the offerings in such a way that they remain as permanent offerings in the city center for the urban community. Both projects are being supported in the process by, among others, Agentur Mitte and other units of the city administration, such as the youth welfare office, which has accompanied the young people in their "jugendraum" project from the outset.