Misery surrounding new prison building: Saxony opts for new planner
A new general planner is to fix the current misery surrounding the new prison building in Zwickau. The tender documents are currently being drawn up, the state-owned real estate and construction management company (SIB) announced on request. At the same time, legal steps against the previous general planner are being examined. As the client, the state of Saxony had terminated the contract and justified the move with an "increasingly inadequate service provision". The company denied this and saw itself as a "pawn to cover up its own misconduct".
"One of the first tasks of the new planning team will be to draw up reliable cost and schedule plans," explained SIB spokesperson Alwin-Rainer Zipfl. It is still unclear how much more expensive the joint large prison in Saxony and Thuringia will be - and when it will even go into operation. The costs have already more than doubled from the original 150 million euros. The commissioning date had been postponed from 2019 to 2025; it is currently uncertain again due to the separation from the previous planner and the uncertainties regarding the further course of construction.
Space for 820 prisoners in future
However, according to the SIB, there is currently no complete standstill on the construction site. Commissioned construction work is being completed as far as possible, explained Zipfl, including work on facades and the installation of heating, ventilation and elevators.
The new XXL prison, which will cover an area of around 30,000 square meters, will provide space for up to 820 prisoners - 450 inmates from Saxony and 370 prisoners from Thuringia - and replace several old prisons in both states. They signed a state treaty to this end in 2014 and are financing the new building on a pro rata basis.
The newly appointed planning team must ensure that accurate cost and timeline estimates are prepared for the prison construction project. Amidst the change, the penal system in Saxony is examining potential legal actions against the previous planner due to inadequate service provision allegations.
Source: www.dpa.com
