“Roger Federer Halle” only barely received approval

If the tug of war around the planned tennis hall on the Schützenmatte were a tennis match, we would be dealing with a net roller here. The Building and Spatial Planning Commission (BRK) of the Grand Council narrowly decided to recommend the advice on the development plan for the hall to the Grand Council for adoption, with seven yes votes, five no votes and one abstention. But the BRK included a clause in the development plan that the developer, the Old Boys Tennis Club (TCOB), would hardly have sought.

In the future, the tennis club must also open the tennis facility in the Schützenmatte sports center to non-members. The application, which received a majority in the vote within the commission, states that the tennis facility should be made “generally accessible to the general public within the scope of operational possibilities”. The BRK’s report on the business published on Friday literally states: “In particular, non-members can also rent tennis courts.”

The commission justifies this condition, among other things, with the fact that the new hall will be located on the “lawn used for polysports”. According to the BRK, zone conformity “would not have been sufficient” without the requirement.

For a minority, the requirement went too far

The TCOB is planning the hall on the southwestern edge of the Schützenmatte area, along the St. Galler Ring. It would accommodate four indoor courts. Minus the loss of two outdoor spaces, the club would have a total of eleven in the future, which is two more spaces.

For some members of the BRK, the request went too far. They submitted a counter-application in which the TCOB would only have had to rent out two of the four new indoor spaces to non-members. But when it came to propagation, the counterproposal was defeated.

Basically – and this is crucial for the TCOB – the BRK supports the hall. In her report she states: “The majority of the commission considers the resized project to be compatible with the district.” She also recommends that the objections that are still pending against the project be dismissed.

The club would have wanted to get started a long time ago

The TCOB submitted the first building application in 2016. Roger Federer, who played for OB as a junior, also promised contributions, and people quickly started talking about the “Roger Federer Hall”. Despite the prominent supporter, the project met with resistance. At that time it was still planned to play on the roof of the hall. Residents were afraid of light emissions. The Basel Court of Appeal also decided in 2021 that a development plan was needed for the project. It was launched in May 2023. Afterwards, objections were received from at least two resident groups.

One group objected, among other things, to the blocking effect of the building. It was said at the time that such a hall did not belong in a residential area.

New hall is ecologically better

The commission writes that the concerns have been “carefully examined”. But: “Ultimately, the neighborhood compatibility of the project was significantly improved, particularly through the substantial resizing.” Another positive side effect: The new hall performs better ecologically than the previous solution.

The TCOB has a balloon hall built at the beginning of each winter semester so that training remains possible. However, it is heated with fossil fuels. The commission emphasizes that the planned hall will be heated with air-heat water pumps and supplied with electricity via a photovoltaic system. According to the construction plans, the facade is made of wood and the roof will be green.

The TCOB is likely to be extremely happy about the BRK report. As early as 2020, the club told its members that in 2017, when the general assembly gave the green light to the construction project, they “didn’t know that we would have to have such perseverance.”