After the climate conference Tent city to be taken down before Christmas
Bonn · Following the climate conference in November, some pathways in the Rheinaue are still closed to the public. The grassy area called the “Blumenwiese” will be reseeded in spring.
Just over a month ago, politicians, climate researchers and non-governmental organizations met at the Cop 23 in Bonn to discuss the concrete implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. In the Rheinaue, traces of the climate conference can still be seen: Workers are dismantling the tent city which had been erected for the event. By the end of December, the pavilions and function rooms should be completely removed. Parts of the Bonn zone are still standing on the Blumenwiese, and even on the grassy area behind the Deutsche Welle, the Bula zone is still recognizable. Security officers control the access roads to both areas. Charles-de-Gaulle-Straße is still closed to motorists and pedestrians. In some spots, signs point the way to the individual entrances: "Gate J", for example, stands on one of the big signs.
Responsible for the construction and dismantling of the tent city is the Hamburg company Vagedes & Schmid. "The dismantling is going very well, at the moment we are even slightly ahead of schedule," says Beate Frey-Stilz, head of the project team for the Cop 23 at the Federal Ministry for the Environment. In the first days after the conference about 1500 workers were on the construction sites. "Now there are about 300 to 350 people working there", says the project manager. On the evening the conference ended, the furnishings of the individual country pavilions were carried away, followed by more furniture and finally the individual tents.
Rain and snowfall has made the demolition work difficult in recent days. "Of course, the work on wet grounds is more difficult than if it were firm and dry, but we adjusted to that. In this respect, everything is going according to plan," explains Michael Vagedes, managing director of Vagedes & Schmid.
Most of the built-in materials had been rented by the event management company. The individual parts go back to the suppliers for use again at other events. A small portion of the material cannot be recycled and will be disposed of properly. The newly laid network of electricity and water pipes, however, will remain. " After the tent material has been completely dismantled, the driveways are to be removed as the last step," says Frey-Stilz. In order for trucks to be able to drive on the narrow pathways at the Rheinaue, they were widened with mats. As of December 20, they will be open again for pedestrians and cyclists.
The Blumenwiese area, however, will remain closed until the lawn is restored. After the dismantling of the pavilions, brown muddy areas without grass will become visible and these will need to be brought back to their original condition. "Of course, the timetable for restoring the grass depends heavily on the weather. It should ideally start in January," says Vagedes. The grass seed can only be planted at warmer temperatures, probably from mid-March." The contract between the city and BMUB states that the area should be restored by April 1, 2018," says city spokeswoman Monika Hörig. According to current planning, the Blumenwiese should be open again to pedestrians in May, making it accessible for "Rhine in Flames" on the first weekend of May.
More than 22,000 participants from 190 nations traveled to Bonn for the twelve-day conference. In addition to Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. politicians Al Gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger participated.
(Orig. text: Sabrina Bauer, Translation: ck)
