School dating back to 1913 to be extensively renovated

It has been announced that the school building on Artherstrasse is expected to be extensively renovated at a cost of CHF 4.6 million.

The city council will debate the matter on Tuesday 2 July; if approval is given, then funds for the planned renovation are expected to be released.

The school, with its attractive tower, was actually designed by architect Emil Weber, the first pupils starting there in1913, its design regarded as typical of that of Swiss schools of that period. While it is not actually a listed building, it is regarded as a building worthy of preservation.

It was previously renovated in 1957 and 1977 though not to the extent planned this time, when it will be adapted to meet the needs of pupils and staff for the next 30 years.

The alterations planned include the abandonment of the caretaker’s flat and making use of the hitherto unused attic space to create a larger library, the creation of three new classrooms, two specialist rooms, a group room, a remedial teaching room and a teachers’ preparation room, in addition to a kitchen, a staffroom for between 20-30 teachers and toilet facilities for the disabled on the lower ground floor. Indeed, following renovation, all floors should be easily accessible for disabled people. In addition, the whole building is to be rewired, the technology brought up to the latest standards, fire safety enhanced, not to mention it being strengthened to be able to withstand earthquakes.

The work is expected to take one year, during which time the pupils will be taught in a temporary building costing CHF 300,000, this amount already having been taken into account in the afore-mentioned CHF 4.6 million.

If all goes according to plan, work will start in February of next year, with pupils and staff able to return in February or March of 2021.