District supports construction of the family centre in Frankenberg

Creating the conditions for a good path into the future in a historic location is something that does not happen every day, even in the Philipp Soldan town of Frankenberg. The hall in the more than 500-year-old Rathausschirn was the venue for the handover of a grant for the construction of the family centre, which is to be built in Marburger Straße near the Hans Viessmann School. The project is to be funded with more than 950,000 euros from the district. First District Councillor and District Youth Officer Karl-Friedrich Frese was pleased to be able to hand over the promise of a further grant from federal funds to Mayor Rüdiger Heß.

"The district is to receive almost 5.2 million euros from the state and the federal government by 2024 for investment measures in child care, which will be passed on to the municipalities and other providers of facilities," the first district councillor pointed out. Of this, about 2.7 million euros from the federal programme had already been approved, and in the second quarter of 2021 another 1.2 million euros were expected to be approved. In addition, the state has announced that it will increase the funding programme by another 1.288 million euros.

The district's goal continues to be to optimise the childcare options and to create childcare places that meet the needs of the fortunately many children in Waldeck-Frankenberg. Frese regretted that due to the reduced funding policy of the federal government and the state of Hesse, not all measures can be considered for funding. For this reason, the district committee had to decide to initially only fund measures that create additional places. "Unfortunately, measures to modernise the facilities cannot currently be subsidised from federal or state funds," said the First District Commissioner. However, the usual 20 per cent subsidy from the district is still planned for these construction projects.

The funding amount of 1.07 million euros handed over in the Rathaussschirn is federal funding from the investment programme "Childcare Financing 2020 - 2021"; a further 120,000 euros in funding is expected from state funds. The federal funds, according to the wording of the decision, serve to expand and maintain a needs-based infrastructure in the area of education, upbringing and care for children up to school age in day care facilities. Mayor Rüdiger Heß and the head of the municipal department of urban development and environment, head of the building department Dipl.-Ing. Karsten Dittmar, explained what is behind the wording in the case of the Frankenberg Family Centre on Marburger Straße.

"Originally, we had planned a three-group kindergarten," says Heß, but a future-oriented needs assessment changed the plans in favour of a family centre. In addition to three regular groups, there will also be space for two crèche groups. The family centre will bring the town of Frankenberg much closer to its goal of reconciling family and work and building a network for families.

As the mayor emphasised, there are still funds available from previous years for the implementation of the construction investment of around 5.1 million euros and further funds are firmly planned in the 2021 municipal budget. He praised the district for its quick and smooth processing of the building application - the tenders are already underway and the family centre can hopefully be inaugurated at the beginning of 2022. He also praised the district's distribution of state funds. The federal and state governments, on the other hand, still have room for improvement in their funding strategy and are particularly challenged to properly equip their funding pots during the pandemic. Of the planned 1.5 million euros, only 1.19 million euros will be funded, so that the town of Frankenberg will have to raise another 310,000 euros from its own resources.

Head of the building department Dittmar briefly presented the family centre on the basis of the building plans. In addition to the modern building style, a very environmentally friendly technology with night ventilation was particularly noteworthy. Fans ensure that the air volume of the building is exchanged three to four times, thus creating a fresh climate. The battery for the night ventilation is fed by a photovoltaic system, which, together with a green roof, does its part to significantly reduce the CO2 exchange. With the family centre, the city of Frankenberg is well prepared for the year 2022 and the following years, Heß and Dittmar concluded.