Once upon a time...in the heart of Germany...Berlin...there stood the Stadtschloss...basically a castle of sorts. It wasn't exactly grand or a four-star establishment. It wouldn't measure up to the Bavarian scale of castles. It was a nice castle...at least for Berlin.
So the war came, and the thing was heavily damaged. After the war....sitting in the DDR section of Berlin and under Soviet control...it was eventually decided not to fix the castle...but to tear it down and build up the Palace of the Republic...some structure for East German political dudes to meet, rubber-stamp policy and gossip.
Ever since Berlin became a hub of activity again...folks kept talking about the old castle. So recently, the political players and the powers of Berlin finally got into the castle-building frame of mind. The Palace of the Republic has been torn down...and the boys want to erect a $750-odd million palace or castle (depending on your definition of things).
This site is over at Museum Island...a center point in Berlin and not a bad location. The old palace that stood there...was build in 1871...and barely lasted 75 years.
The selling point for this expensive structure...to make everyone happy...is that it will look like a palace but actually house most of the works of art and science that other city museums now hold. So it's not a real palace or castle....like you'd think.
The curious thing is that a number of folks have stood up and asked about the cost and really don't want to waste their tax revenue on such a structure. It's not like the government really needs a palace...you know.
Some folks even say it'll go at least fifty percent over budget...maybe even one hundred percent. So a billion might actually be spent on this in the end.
Others say that it's a tourist magnet from day one on. They think it'll draw fantastic crowds and pump up the economy....like that silly little castle down in Bavaria does today.
The amusing thing here...is that you would have thought that a German designer would have been hired for this...but instead, it's an Italian. This is probably another reason why some folks question this whole thing.
Merkel and the new government could cancel this project or delay it. The curious thing is that local city council is mostly SPD and they seem to be very much in the support part of this game. They actually think it's a positive thing and provides jobs for the locals. The project? It would start next October...and be done in four years...if it does start on time.
My guess is that it'll get built...it'll run to well over a billion...and be a huge magnet for the public. And in fifty years...probably need a major renovation effort to fix up problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment