The citizens' workshop on the feasibility study for the "Im Staden" leisure area was very well attended. Around 70 participants came to the Stadenhalle and contributed their ideas and suggestions for the valorization of this recreational area.
Mayor Friedrich Marx welcomed the attendees and emphasized that the area in the Tiefenstein district - which includes the natural swimming pool, the Stadenhalle with restaurant and the sports and leisure area including the campsite of TuS Tiefenstein - offers great potential. "It's like a gemstone that has been polished, but needs a little polishing." In order to tap into the area's potential, the Idar-Oberstein town council commissioned FUTOUR - Umwelt-, Tourismus- und Regionalberatung to carry out a feasibility study. The aim of the study is to valorize the "Im Staden" experience area for tourism. Among other things, the topics of gemstones and the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park are to be taken into account.
After the welcome address, Dr. Heike Glatzel and Dirk Schmülgen from FUTOUR took over the rest of the workshop. The two consultants - Dr. Heike Glatzel is a managing director specializing in feasibility studies and tourism concepts, Dirk Schmülgen's focus is on destination and sustainable regional development - had already dealt intensively with the site and its surroundings in advance. As a result, they were able to present the participants with a number of ideas as to what additional or future uses would be possible in the six defined zones: Staden natural swimming pool, Stadenhalle, campsite including youth tent meadow, hard court, central area and traffic areas.
But of course, the main aim of the workshop was to find out the ideas, suggestions and criticisms of the participants. To this end, they were able to note down what they saw as the strengths and weaknesses of the area on colored cards. The strengths mentioned included the location, the proximity to nature and the national park, the existing infrastructure and accessibility by public transport. However, some of the weaknesses are also to be found here: the condition of the infrastructure, the poor image of the natural pool, the traffic and parking situation for private transport and the lack of a cycle path were criticized.
The next step was to find out the participants' creative ideas for the six defined zones. Divided into different groups, they had the opportunity to note down for each area what services should be available there in the future, what obstacles they see to their implementation and what topics still needed to be discussed. This opportunity was used extensively and numerous ideas and suggestions for future use were put forward for each of the six zones.
Financing was mentioned several times as one of the sticking points in implementing the suggestions. "The first task today is to collect suggestions from the public," explained Mayor Marx. What will actually be implemented and how it will be financed will of course have to be discussed and decided in the municipal committees. This would of course also involve possible subsidies, "because the preparation of the feasibility study is also funded by the LAG Erbeskopf", said Marx. First of all, however, it is now up to the Futour office to create an overall concept for the "Im den Staden" area based on the numerous contributions from the workshop and their own considerations. At the end of the workshop, both the representatives of the office and Mayor Marx thanked the participants for their committed cooperation.