CHF 82 million for the mega-construction

The planned development of the Dorfmatt centre, the south railway station, the cantonal school and the Sports Park in Rotkreuz is going into the next round. At the end of March, the voters of Rotkreuz-Risch will vote on the development plan for the Dorfmatt and Bahnhof Süd, the planning credits for the centre design and the necessary sale of land to the canton.

As is well known, the centre of Rotkreuz is to receive a new look. The next step is to have the local population vote on the further details at an extraordinary community meeting on 30 March.

The planned centre redesign of the Dorfmatt, Bahnhof Süd (south railway station), the Cantonal school and the Sports Park envisages renovating the Dorfmatt Centre, adding an extension to it and upgrading the Dorfmattplatz.

At the forthcoming extraordinary community meeting, the municipal council will submit to the voters the development plan for the Dorfmatt and Bahnhof Süd and the two project planning credits of around CHF 65 million for the new Dorfmatt building and of around CHF 17 million for the construction of the Sports Park.

A further item on the agenda is the authorisation for the municipal council to sell land to the canton for CHF 400 per square metre. This is for the construction of the new cantonal school. The request has already been sent to the people of Risch.

New bus station and new open-air swimming pool building
At a media orientation at the Dorfmatt centre last Friday, Peter Hausherr, the president (Gemeindepräsident) of the Risch municipality, together with Patrick Wahl, Risch municipal councillor and head of construction, Florian Weber, the director of construction (Baudirektor) and Stephan Schleiss, director of education (Bildungsdirektor), presented the further plans. In this context, Risch wants to make use of the synergies in the centre's design, as Peter Hausherr noted.

"The bus station (Bushof) is also to be renovated and made more efficient, and, in the future, will meet the requirements of the Equal Opportunities for People with Disabilities Act," says the municipal president. A planning credit of CHF 4.8 million will thereby be submitted to the voters. This is part of the project planning credit for the new Dorfmatt building.

The SBB plans to completely replace the existing station building by constructing a high-rise building, as well as two additional buildings for commercial and residential use.

How the centre of Rotkreuz should look by 2031                  Sketch: PD
View of the Dorfmattplatz and the Dorfmatt Centre (in the middle). Things will look very different here in eight years’ time, thanks to the planned upgrading of the centre,
(From left to right) Siglinde Pechlaner, Project Manager SBB, Education Director Stephan Schleiss, Building Director Florian Weber, Risch Municipal President Peter Hausherr and Risch Head of Building Patrick Wahl at the media orientation at the Zentrum Dorfmatt      
The tracks are literally being set anew for the entire Rotkreuz railway station. The existing station building is to be completely replaced       
The realisation of the new cantonal school in Rotkreuz requires the construction of a new sports park building, as well as an extension and further development of the sports park area.               Photos: Mathias Blattmann
How the station building in Rotkreuz should look after completion              Sketch: PD

The new cantonal school is to be built in the eastern part of the centre. This requires the construction of a new Sports Park building, as well as an extension and further development of the sports park area, according to municipal councillor (Gemeinderat) Patrick Wahl.

In addition, a new building for the open-air swimming pool is planned. CHF 1.9 million are needed for the further steps of the planning, on which the voters of Risch also have to decide. The CHF 1.9 million is part of the project planning credit for the construction of the Sports Park.

"In order to create planning security on the part of the canton, the municipal council should also be given the authority to sell a maximum of 6,100 square metres of the Sports Park land to the canton," Patrick Wahl explained further.

Making use of synergies together
Working together with the canton and the SBB, the Risch municipality wants to achieve maximum quality and added value through a holistic view and a joint approach. The planning agreements between the municipality, the SBB and the canton of Zug form the basis for this.

The participants have a unique opportunity to make use of the synergies together. "Coordinated planning makes it possible to build the infrastructure economically, to combine processes in a sensible way and to divide up investment and maintenance contributions where possible. The emission period can be shortened, and a progressive and superordinate energy and climate concept can be striven for," stated Patrick Wahl at the media orientation.

Time horizon until 2031
From the point of view of the canton, the Ennetsee Cantonal School will add another focal point to the diverse infrastructure of Zug in the field of education. "The project envisaged by the cantonal and government councils has cleared another hurdle, thanks to the approval of the structure plan entry by the federal government," said construction director Florian Weber.

During the following political process and planning, attention is to be paid to making the best possible use of the invested funds and to make maximum use of the synergies with the municipality of Risch.

"The simultaneous realisation of all construction projects with a time horizon until 2031, if possible, would be ideal for the municipality, as the Dreilinden Centre could then serve as a temporary home for the municipal administration during the construction phase," says Peter Hausherr.