Winterthur: Associations promote Theater Plus project
The discussion about the future of Winterthur's municipal theater is gaining momentum. The listed municipal theater is in need of renovation, but the costs for the construction measures would be so high that the demolition of the building is now also being debated.
In this context, the Standortförderung Region Winterthur, together with Winterthur Tourismus and the Winterthur Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Association, has presented the Theater Plus project. The plans envisage a center in which congresses can be held in addition to theater performances. Two large halls with space for 800 and 400 visitors respectively are planned for this purpose. A hotel with 125 rooms is also to be housed under the same roof, along with an expanded restaurant, seminar rooms and rental apartments. All this could be built on the existing site, but the current municipal theater would have to be demolished.
The initiators estimate the investment volume at CHF 130 million, which is to come from private investors. According to the calculations of the initiators, a gross return of 4.5 percent beckons. Individual talks have shown that there is definitely interest on the part of investors, Beat Schwab of the Winterthur Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Association told the NZZ. The city would give the land in building rights and the theater would rent into the building in the future. (ah)
