Over the weekend, the local news in Wiesbaden hinted that the usage of the former US Army-run American Arms Hotel....will be for refugees.
Yeah, a slight shocker.
For almost a year, there's been internal discussion of various uses, and I guess some pressure was brought upon the city to accept more people, and this was more or less an ideal property to convert over.
From the planning standpoint....the building needs only minor modifications or improvements. I admit....there's no furniture in the old hotel....so they'd have to buy everything to refurnish it as a refugee center. There was a central dining point in the old hotel....which could be put back into action.....if they buy the kitchen equipment.
The neighborhood? I'm not sure of the enthusiasm. This was a high-value neighborhood with million-Euro houses. It is within five minutes walking of the down-town area. I would estimate that the American Arms Hotel had roughly 150 rooms....some of a double capacity which would work for a four-to-six person family. Total usage? Maybe in the 500 resident range.
At least there won't be any parking lot issues (they had one of the smaller parking lots in the region).
Long-term use? I'm guessing for the next three or four years....it'll be used in this capacity and when the crisis period finally dissolves....the city will agree to tear the building down and convert it over to a park.
Of course, this would bring a logical person to ask this dynamic question.....where exactly will affordable apartments be found as each resident reaches the point of wanting to exit the center after getting finished with basic requirements? Wiesbaden doesn't exactly have cheap apartments in abundance and the building scheme that you generally see around town....isn't for cheap apartments in the future.
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