Elementary school in Hall: parts of the roof in danger of collapse - classes have to change!

Elementary school in Hall: parts of the roof in danger of collapse - classes have to change!

Hall in Tirol, Österreich - The elementary school at the Stiftsplatz in Hall faces serious challenges. Due to structural damage, the partial closure of the school was recently necessary. A teacher discovered fallen parts of the ceiling in her classroom, which required immediate measures. The affected area, which includes around 20 square meters, was immediately blocked. "We consulted both a building agent and a construction company to examine the damage and plan the further steps," said Mayor Christian Margreiter.

The situation is serious: the cleaning agents have loosened, and the students of the class below had to leave the room. At the moment, the classes concerned have been moved to the nearby polytechnic school, where they also receive their certificates at the end of the school year. A renovation is essential, but the duration of this work remains uncertain because the entire school building is checked for further damage. The focus is on the northern building wing in particular, and it could be that even more classes have to move into alternative quarters if further defects are found.

renovation of a historical school building

The elementary school is sitting in a listed building from the Middle Ages, which was previously used as a university. This historical building fabric makes every renovation particularly complex because the characteristics obtained must remain preserved. Even if regular static checks are carried out, a destructive diagnosis is problematic for intact blankets. Here the renovation is as complex and time -consuming.

While the city of Hall as the owner is responsible for the renovation, it remains unclear whether building insurance will cover the costs. In similar cases, such as dilapidated school buildings in Berlin, there is often a high need for renovation. Joachim Staudt, architect, sees in a comprehensive renovation of old school buildings, such as the flower primary school, exemplary solutions and "lucky cases" that were realized by the use of funding.

In Austria, many schools fight with similar challenges. School construction not only includes new buildings, but also the urgently needed renovation and modernization of existing buildings. School carriers are usually responsible for the construction and maintenance and receive support from various funding programs, which are described in detail, for example in bildungsServer.de. The renovation backlog is large, and this lack of investment is also visible in other federal states.

This is why a big focus will need to be on the renovation of older school buildings in the future in order to meet both the energetic requirements and to guarantee the safety of the pupils. The example of Hall could soon be part of a larger renovation project to improve the school building structure throughout Austria.