"A once in a lifetime opportunity"

Jürgen Nimptsch in an interview with Bonn´s General-Anzeiger

Bonn's new mayor made it clear that he is in favor of a new Festspielhaus. In an interview with Bonn's daily newspaper General Anzeiger, Mayor Jürgen Nimptsch describes the project as a once in a lifetime opportunity. "Without a new Festspielhaus, Bonn will no longer be known as the City of Beethoven the world over."

He also made it clear, however, that he plans to include the people of Bonn in the decision making process by holding a citizen survey. As he told the General Anzeiger, the public still needs plenty of convincing. The people of Bonn must understand that construction of the new concert hall will be financed in its entirety by three local companies: Deutsche Post DHL, Telekom and Postbank. "Not a single cent of municipal funds will be used in the project." Nimptsch also emphasized that the city's contribution to the operation of the planned Festspielhaus, at roughly EUR 3 million ("exact figures will be available in March"), will in no way disadvantage any of Bonn's other cultural centers. The citizens of Bonn must also realize the following: A "no" to the Festspielhaus means that the city would have to finance the restoration of the current Beethovenhalle on its own and to the tune of EUR 20 million. The new construction project calls for the current structure to be demolished. He also stressed the economic benefits that a new Festspielhaus would bring to the city of Bonn, citing value-adding aspects such as increased tourism.

For the mayor, one thing is clear: "Without a new Festspielhaus, Bonn will no longer be known as the City of Beethoven the world over." Nimptsch hopes that the people of Bonn will listen to his arguments in favor of the new construction and agree. He has put himself on the spot, however. If the poll shows a slight majority against the project, he will still go ahead and encourage the City Council to approve the new construction. "If, however, 70% or more vote against the project, then we couldn't possible go ahead with it. We'd unfortunately have to tell the companies in charge of financing the building project that the majority of Bonn's residents simply do not want the Festspielhaus." Should it come to this, Nimptsch would be truly disappointed, for as he said, "an opportunity like this - to have companies willing to build a truly exquisite Festspielhaus along the Rhine at virtually no cost to the city - is a once in a lifetime kind of thing." General-Anzeiger, 29 October 2009