Bathing: Botta thermal bath can be built
The city council of Baden (AG) has granted Verenahof AG the building permit for construction sites I and II in the spa area, subject to conditions. This means that the new thermal baths, designed by star architect Mario Botta, can be built.
Verenahof AG can now demolish the existing buildings on the site and rebuild the thermal baths and a residential and commercial building. Further plans include the construction of an underground garage with 450 parking spaces, the redesign of Parkstrasse and the redesign of the surroundings and the Limmat riverbank area on the Parkstrasse property.
The conditions imposed by the city council on the builders concern organizational matters relating to the construction process as well as questions of access, mobility, energy and flood protection for the project. In order for construction to start, the conditions must be met on time, writes the city of Baden in a statement.
The building application for construction site III, on which parts of the former hotels Verenahof, Ochsen and Bären are to be converted into a hotel and a clinic, is still in the approval process. The deadline for submission expired on March 29, 2016.
Verenahof AG expects that the groundbreaking ceremony can still take place at the end of 2016, so that the bath could be opened in 2018. The baths project in Baden has been delayed several times. Originally, construction was to begin in 2012, and the thermal bath was scheduled to open in 2015. (ah)
