Preparations for 2009 in full swing: 258 million euros to be invested in culture infrastructure

The Building Authority of the City of Linz is at present involved up to the hilt in a large number of projects related to the European Capital of Culture 2009. At present an investment volume of 258 or so million euros is at the disposal above all of the City of Linz and the province of Upper Austria.

City of Linz projects, such as the enlargement of the Ars Electronica Center and the revitalization of the Salt Authority premises, and projects developed by the province of Upper Austria, such as the new construction of the opera house and music theatre and the Schlossmuseum’s South Wing and the adaptation of the Studienbibliothek, will result in a significant boost to Linz’s network of cultural institutions. Other cultural infrastructure building projects include plans to assign the Tax Office East to the University of Arts Linz as its new home and to enlarge OK Center of Contemporary Art Upper Austria in the OK Market Square.

It has proved possible until now to stay within the ambitious time schedules. Credit for this must go at least in part to the Departments of Urban Planning and Administration of Buildings of Linz’s Municipal Administration: With the exception of the new opera house and music theatre all major cultural infrastructure projects are either under construction or at least in possession of a legally effective building permit. What is particularly strongly in evidence is the fact that a second culture mile is coming into being away from the Danube along Dametzstraße as far as Hessenplatz.

The city is sprucing itself up for 2009.