“Today we are allowed to open something in the city that does not happen every day in Lusatia, also with regard to the funding amount.” With these words, Mayor Torsten Ruban-Zeh named another significant milestone in the structural transformation process of Hoyerswerda and Lusatia on Friday, April 14, 2023. It was about money, a lot of money, namely a funding decision in the amount of over 22 million euros, financed on the basis of the Federal Coal Regions Investment Act (InvKG).
The funding notification was delivered by State Minister Thomas Schmidt in person. During his speech at the Lausitzbad, he described the structural change from the perspective of the State Ministry for Regional Development: “Many projects are now in the pipeline, have been selected for the coalfields. There are over 100 projects with a total volume of 1 billion euros. Step by step, these projects are being decided upon. As things stand, 43 structural change projects in the Lusatian coalfield have received their approval notices, for over 228 million euros.”
The approved projects now include the Lausitzbad in Hoyerswerda, not only to the delight of Matthias Brauer, managing director of the baths, which began operating in 1999: “We launched the project to improve the quality of life in the city. So we are building a new 25-meter pool, not because the money is there, but because we need it. We have increased demand for school swimming, swimming lessons, club swimming, water gymnastics and rehabilitation sports.” Thanks to structural funding, the Lausitzbad will be extensively rebuilt, expanded, renovated and modernized in the coming months. Space will be created and a lot of new things will be built, the issue of accessibility will be adapted to the times, and the working conditions for the employees will be improved.
The qualification of the Lausitzbad is a contribution to preparing the city for the future and making it livable. Minister of State Thomas Schmidt also sees such projects as an important key: “A prerequisite for successful structural change, and this is often underestimated, is precisely quality of life and services of general interest. The future of the region must also be secured with regard to demographic development – through a positive image and new jobs.”
The qualification of the bath is to be completed in 2025. An ambitious target date. Lord Mayor Torsten Ruban-Zeh is optimistic, and this has very personal reasons: “The most important person present today is sitting back there playing with his cell phone, that’s my son Oskar. The boy accompanies me from groundbreaking to groundbreaking. He is my talisman, because we have always undercut the time frame and the costs in the projects where he was present at the groundbreaking ceremony. We also want to succeed in qualifying the Lausitzbad so that the people in the region can quickly make use of the bath again.”
After the handover of the funding decision, the groundbreaking ceremony took place. Despite the rainy weather, no one let the good mood be spoiled and exchanged ideas in a relaxed atmosphere. Minister of State Thomas Schmidt then traveled on to Weißwasser and Görlitz, where he handed over two more funding decisions.
Also the Lausitzwelle reported on 17.04.2023 in its program:
