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09/11/2018 | Pressemitteilung

Start of construction for new three-field sports hall

Laying of the foundation stone for the new three-field sports hall (TASK Hall) in Kassel: Together, the University and the City of Kassel are building the new sports facility in the Auepark sports area. Chancellor Dr. Oliver Fromm laid the foundation stone for the project today (September 11) together with Lord Mayor Christian Geselle and City Planning Officer Christof Nolda.

Image: h.s.d./city of Kassel.
This is what the hall should look like.
Image: Andreas Weber/City of Kassel.
Axel Jäger (Head of the Office of Building Construction and Building Management, City of Kassel), Christian Decker (h.s.d. architekten BDA from Lemgo), Lord Mayor Christian Geselle, Ministerialdirigent Jens-Uwe Münker (Hessian Ministry of the Interior, Head of the Sports Department), City Planning Officer Christof Nolda, Chancellor Dr. Oliver Fromm, Prof. Dr. Armin Kibele (Institute for Sports and Sports Science).

"We are very pleased that construction can finally begin," said Mayor Geselle. "The new three-field hall will not only enhance the Auepark sports area, but is also a tremendous asset for the sports city of Kassel. With the new building, we will be able to offer additional hall time to our schools and sports clubs in addition to the university."

Increased demand due to further development of the university - research, teaching and university sports

For the University of Kassel, the hall is of great importance for sports science research. The development of student numbers shows how great the need is for the university's sports students and general university sports, explained Chancellor Dr. Oliver Fromm: "The university has shared use of the existing sports hall on Damaschkestraße since it was commissioned in 1983. At that time, the university had just under 9,000 students; now it has around 25,000. In the future, the new hall will allow us to dispense with a number of rentals of smaller halls and to concentrate the relevant events here at the location of the Institute of Sports and Sports Sciences."

The new hall is made possible by the Transfer and Application Center for Sport in Kassel (TASK) cooperation project initiated by the city and the university. TASK involves close cooperation between the two institutions with the aim of transferring sports-related projects from scientific research work to practical sports applications.

The state of Hesse is funding the construction with a total of 2.4 million euros through a special investment program for outstanding sports facilities. In total, the new three-field sports hall will cost around 6.9 million euros. The city itself is investing just over three million euros, with the remaining approximately 1.5 million euros coming from the university.

Commissioning planned for spring 2020

Planning for the project has been underway since 2016, and the foundation and shell construction work has been awarded to the company Hartmann Bau GmbH from Borgentreich. If everything goes according to plan, the TASK hall can be put into operation in spring 2020. As with all construction measures, however, completion is always dependent on weather and economic conditions.

"Hall fits successfully and sensitively into the surroundings".

The building will be realized according to the plans of the office h.s.d. architekten BDA from Lemgo, which had won the 1st prize in the architectural competition of the city and the university for the new three-field sports hall. "The new building is convincing with its functional qualities as well as with its architectural design, which successfully and sensitively blends into the surroundings adjacent to the Karlsaue landscape monument," praised city building councilor Christof Nolda on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone. The compact square structure leaves enough outdoor space for the outdoor playground to be located in a favored position to the south of the new building. The entrance is easily located opposite the entrance to the Aueparkhalle. Visitors enter a spacious, light-flooded foyer via a footbridge, which is connected to the upper floor via an air space and promises spatial qualities.

A building shell of trapezoidal sheet metal on the outside is fronted by a second skin of stainless steel mesh. This is intended as a climbing scaffold, among other things for climbing roses, and enables a sensitive integration into the protected Karlsaue. The trellis-like wooden structure originally envisaged in the competition was discarded for various reasons, including building maintenance.

The construction of the TASK hall eliminates a grass playing field behind the Auepark sports hall. For this reason, a nearby hard court has already been converted into a modern artificial turf field that can be played on year-round. The 68 by 105 meter pitch had been opened in June 2018.

 

Contact:

Sebastian Mense
University of Kassel
Communications, Press and Public Relations
Phone: +49 561 804-1961
E-mail: presse[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
www.uni-kassel.de