Price shock for scale renovation: costs increase to 13 million euros!

Price shock for scale renovation: costs increase to 13 million euros!

Gottschedstraße 16, 04109 Leipzig, Deutschland - The costs for the renovation of the former theater play "Skala" in Leipzig continue to rise. Like LVZ , the original cost of 6 million euros before was 13 euros before Millions of euros are raised, and now it turns out that this amount will not be sufficient. Cultural Office Manager Tobias Kobe confirmed that the plans are more expensive.

As early as May 2025, the building application for the project was submitted, and a building permit is expected for September 2025. The building at Gottschedstraße 16, which was built in 1882 as a company house "Metropol", is to be used in the future as a "House of Festival", a decision that the city council made in 2020.

increased planning costs

On June 20, 2025, a change application was submitted to the city council, which doubles the planning costs of the “House of Festival” from 550,000 euros to 1,100,000 euros. This was initiated by the city councilor Anna Schneider-Kaleri by the Greens and the SPD city councilor Christina März, both of whom emphasized the importance of cultural infrastructure in their contributions. Due to damaged building fabric as well as the necessary renovations and requirements, the expected construction costs now increase to 13 million euros, and the city has to make a city share of 550,000 euros in the additional requirement.

Mayor Skadi Jennicke has taken the concerns of the city councils about the increase in costs and is ready to support the amendments. However, the political debate about the project shows tensions because around 20 city councilors spoke out against the applications. A construction and financing decision for the “House of Festivals” is to be presented to the city council in 2025. However, there is currently no specific household position for construction costs in 2025 or 2026.

diverse cultural use

The "House of Festivals" will not only operate a new home for the Jazzclub Leipzig, the gastronomy and the event hall, but also for numerous other users such as Dok-Filmwochen GmbH, the initiative Leipzig jazz musician, the euro scene, the Schumann Association and the literary festival "Literary Autumn". The focus is particularly on the construction of a film art house, whose financing of 8 million euros must also be secured in order to ensure cultural diversity in the project.

The city applied for over 11.9 million euros in funding from the federal government in November 2024, but the approval of these funds is still pending because the Bundestag must first decide on a new budget. The process has taken for a long time and is now also getting into a new political context, which could make the implementation of the project more difficult.

The city of Leipzig is determined to quickly implement the film art house in order to underline the cultural importance of the city, while at the same time the challenges and political tensions in the city council become clear. The discussion about the financing and the planned opening in 2025 will surely still provide discussion in the coming months.