No purchase

“The Seestadt area was simply too narrow”

The dreary parking lot will probably remain in Bregenz for a little longer.

(Bild: Vision urbanes Leben in Bregenz)

The city of Bregenz and ÖBB will not jointly acquire the 9,000 square meter site, which is now estimated to be worth 30 million euros. There are no concrete plans for Seestadt yet, and the parking area is likely to remain for a little longer.  

Mayor Michael Ritsch would not have been unhappy if the Bregenz train station had been rebuilt on its old site, the current Seestadt area. The bus terminal should also have found a new home there - but this failed due to lack of space. "Towards Hypo, the Seestadt area was simply too narrow. To make matters worse, nothing can be built 100 meters from the intersection of provincial roads," explains Ritsch.

Mayor Michael Ritsch.

(Bild: Amt der Landeshauptstadt Bregenz/Kuzmanovic)

Once the members of the relevant committee had decided in favor of station option 4a, the purchase of the site was a thing of the past. The building will remain in its current location, as will the bus station; the main road will be straightened after the Mehrerau bridge and will run between the tracks and the train station/bus terminal in future.

Parking lot remains for the time being
What will happen to the approximately 9,000 square meter site, which Prisma boss Bernhard Ölz acquired in 2008 for around 16 million from Illwerke (75 percent), Hypo Vorarlberg (20 percent) and the city of Bregenz (5 percent), is still uncertain. Ritsch assumes that Seestadt will continue to be used as a parking lot for the time being. "That would be fine anyway - at least until the new train station and underground parking garage are built," says the head of the city.

As far as the construction activities around the Seestadt area are concerned, four applications regarding the construction of a new building yard and the relocation of roads will be decided at the next meeting of the city council. According to Ritsch, all four should find a broad majority.

Timetable for the train station
"The next step concerns the relocation of the road. There will be detailed planning and a construction facility." As far as the station is concerned, ÖBB will probably move out of the dilapidated building into a container in the small parking lot in the autumn. The building with the legendary collecting buckets for the dripping water will then be demolished.