50 years after the Olympic Games in Munich, Bavaria’s top sports facilities are examples of the sustainable use of venues. Their condition is often no longer up to date.
Munich (dpa / lby) – Bavaria’s Minister of the Interior and Sports, Joachim Herrmann (CSU), has campaigned for the preservation of the top sports facilities in the Free State, some of which are in need of renovation. “Now we have to constantly invest so that they meet today’s requirements and so that international competitions can continue to take place here,” said the 66-year-old CSU politician on Monday at the 1972 Olympic riding facility in Munich. Prior to this, Herrmann had discussed the sustainable use of Olympic venues with the presidents of various Bavarian sports associations.
Above all, the regatta course in Oberschleißheim, on which the European Champions Chips took place in the summer, is no longer up to date, criticized the President of the Canoe Association, Oliver Bungers. “Due to the fact that the facility is now a listed building, the expected renovation costs have more or less doubled. It would be a shame if this facility was now abandoned to decay.” The facility is owned by the City of Munich. “The city needs to come up with a concept for how these facilities can be renovated to meet 21st-century standards,” Herrmann said.
The reconstruction of the artificial ice rink on Königssee, which was damaged during a storm in the summer of 2021, is further along. “The money is ready. The conversion should be designed in such a way that it becomes the first climate-neutral ice rink in the world,” said Herrmann. But time is of the essence, as association president Hans Wolf von Schleinitz explained. “If we want to have Olympic champions again in eight years, then they have to drive today,” said von Schleinitz. Many Bavarian athletes are currently training in Thuringia or Italy.
Herrmann also wants to keep the riding facility in Munich-Riem, where around 200 horses have now found their home. “We also want to make a few areas available here so that apartments can be built. But all in all, we will also need this equestrian location in the future,” affirmed the CSU politician. The “core substance” of the plant should be preserved.
