VfB presents air dome as solution

In March, it looked as if VfB Hallbergmoos would have to abandon its 13-year-old plans for a tennis hall. But now things are changing.

Hallbergmoos – The local authority in the district administration had not approved a guarantee from the municipality for 500,000 euros and an unsecured loan. But: The largest sports club in the municipality has changed its plans. And now the local council has signaled its support for the construction of an air dome. The VfB officials promised that the investment costs would remain “under one million euros”. The treasury continues to view the project with skepticism.

According to department head Jana Daniels, VfB currently spends 30,000 euros annually on winter training for its 230 tennis players, 40 percent of whom are juniors, in external halls. “With our own hall, we keep the money in the club and the community.” And we could generate additional revenue.

Other events would also be possible in the hall

Instead of a permanent triple hall with sand covering (investment costs of 2.3 million euros), VfB now wants to build a permanent air dome. According to Jana Daniels, these are not only much more cost-effective, but also flexible and can be used for other sports or events. VfB itself considers a polygon hall (around 1.5 million euros) to be too expensive.

Depending on the design, the capital required for an air dome is between 850,000 and 950,000 euros. The association already has private loan commitments of 130,000 euros. The grant guidelines provide for a municipal subsidy of 285,000 euros (30 percent). For the interim financing of input tax and the – now eliminated – BLSV loan, the municipality would have to help out with 135,000 to 150,000 euros for two years. The loan required from the bank or municipality amounts to 460,000 to 530,000 euros.

In view of the deteriorating revenue situation and falling trade tax revenues, treasurer Thomas Grüning warned: “The legal supervisory authority has already expressed itself very critically in the past about the granting of an unsecured loan to VfB.” Taking on the voluntary task for a relatively small group of people is, according to Grüning, “neither economical nor financially viable”.

Kronner suggests ticket presale “like the wave”

The council sees things differently and unanimously supports the project: Sports representative Markus Streitberger (FW) spoke of a “manageable sum” and the necessity of the hall. “It would be unusual if we did not agree now, when VfB has halved the investment sum,” said Stefan Kronner (SPD). He asked for the weaknesses in the business plan to be eliminated and suggested advance ticket sales “like with the Welle”: “That would show that the hall is wanted on a broader basis.”

Tanja Knieler (CSU) said that the VfB representatives should “leave here today with a positive signal – also to find further sponsors”. She pointed out that all other sports facilities were built by the municipality for the clubs. Christian Krätschmer (CSU) and Sabina Brosch (Greens) agreed that the VfB had shown great effort and willingness to compromise. Subject to the approval of the supplementary budget, the municipality will support the construction of the air dome accordingly, according to the resolution.

Eva Oestereich