Baden-Württemberg: survey on the renovation of the opera: majority for new planning

Nothing has been finally decided yet: There is a dispute about the billion-dollar renovation of the Stuttgart Opera, but it will still be a while before the first craftsmen are supposed to move in.

Baden-Württemberg: survey on the renovation of the opera: majority for new planning

Nothing has been finally decided yet: There is a dispute about the billion-dollar renovation of the Stuttgart Opera, but it will still be a while before the first craftsmen are supposed to move in. The taxpayers' association wants a new plan and is based on a survey.

Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - In view of the high costs, around three quarters of the people in Baden-Württemberg are in favor of revising the plans for the renovation of the opera house in Stuttgart, according to a survey. This was the result of a representative survey commissioned by the Taxpayers' Association. Accordingly, 77.1 percent of citizens were in favor of planning the renovation again. Only 13.8 percent called for the plans to be implemented.

According to the taxpayers' association, the survey results among the residents of the state capital Stuttgart are very similar. There, 74.2 percent of respondents voted in favor of rescheduling, 16.7 percent were in favor of leaving the plans unchanged.

The association called on the green-black state government to take the results of the survey into account in further considerations for the opera. "This is all the more true as the crises in this world lead to inflation and economic stagnation." The budgets of the state and the city of Stuttgart are facing historical challenges. Many companies are at risk. Politicians give private households tips on where they could save, it said. "In these times, one must also be able to expect politicians to make savings instead of continuing to act as if nothing had happened."

The more than 100-year-old opera house in Stuttgart's palace gardens needs a general overhaul and is bursting at the seams. For example, a modern so-called cross stage should make faster and easier changes of scenery possible. In addition, more space is needed, for example for rehearsal rooms, the roof from 1911 is dilapidated, the stage technology is outdated and the gastronomy is no longer up to date.

A joint project company of the city of Stuttgart and the state is to plan and implement the entire project from January 1, 2023. The state and city want to share the cost of this. Whether the previous budget of more than one billion euros can be maintained, however, is strongly questioned. The State Audit Office had also demanded that the planning be reviewed in view of the crisis. The CDU parliamentary group insists on not losing sight of cheaper alternatives.