Bern: Canton prohibits demolition at Tscharnergut

The Fambau cooperative wants to demolish the Scheibenhaus at Fellerstrasse 30 in the Tscharnergut and replace it with a new building. This has provoked protests from the Heritage Society and the City of Bern, as the building, together with Fellerstrasse 40, 50 and 56, is classified as worthy of protection in a separate object sheet in the cantonal building inventory of the City of Bern.

The Bern-Mittelland Regional Governor's Office nevertheless approved the demolition of the property in July 2020. At the time, it was stated that the balancing of the public interest in preserving the building and the private interest in demolition had shown that there was no overriding need for protection. Fambau would not be able to rent the building at break-even after a minimal refurbishment, nor would it be able to finance the next support structure refurbishment with the rental income.

Both the City of Bern and the Bernese and Swiss Heritage Society lodged an appeal against this demolition permit. The Construction and Transport Directorate of the Canton of Bern (BVD) has upheld the appeals and cancelled the demolition permit of the Regierungsstatthalteramt by decision of 3 May 2021. The BVD is of the opinion that a comprehensive renovation of the building is economically viable and therefore reasonable. Both the Tscharnergut development as a whole and the Scheibenhaus in question as an individual building are of "exceptionally high value in terms of monument preservation". The public interest in preserving the architectural monument outweighed the interests of the building owner.

The decision of the FADP may be appealed to the Administrative Court of the Canton of Berne within 30 days. (ah)