STOISITS: CONCERT HALL

For more than 60 years, the headquarters of the Vienna Boys’ Choir have been located in a Viennese park called Augarten. A peripheral part of this park, known as Augartenspitz, has recently been designated as building area. The Vienna Boys’ Choir plans to construct there a concert hall of roughly 1200 m². According to a first construction plan the old baroque style gatehouse as well as parts of the garden wall would be torn down. This caused public outrage and soon residents started fighting against the destruction of this area, famous for its cultural heritage and recreational value. Controversies escalated after the Bundesdenkmalamt (BDA), the state office responsible for the historic preservation of buildings approved the project in April 2009. Local residents organized sit-ins while the Vienna Boys’ Choir is still planning to start construction works in spring 2010.

Representatives of the Vienna Boys’ Choir argued that the area in question was only a very small part of the park, which has been designated unanimously as building area by the Viennese municipal council. Due to logistic and security reasons the concert hall had to be close to the headquarters of the Vienna Boys’ Choir. In addition, the project goes far beyond the interests of the Vienna Boys’ Choir and would help to realise an international platform for the music education for children. Furthermore, the Vienna Boys’ Choir did meet all the necessary requirements when submitting its application and therefore legally obtained the construction permit from the city’s highest building authority as well as the approval of the BDA. The President of the BDA confirmed that the written approval of the BDA included a detailed list of all the criteria leading to the final decision, which had been taken carefully and after revising alternative locations as well.

Ombudswoman Stoisits clarified that the Austrian Ombudsman Board did not start investigative proceedings against the Vienna Boys’ Choir. The Austrian Ombudsman Board investigated how authorities were dealing with such a project in this protected area and whether the construction permit for the Augartenspitz had been issued in accordance with the law. Already at first sight the application itself showed deficits: for such a large-scale construction project a mere five-liner had been submitted by architects who had not even been authorised to do so. In addition, the documentation suggests that the BDA in fact did not at all look for alternative options but adopted the applicant’s opinion.

The President of the BDA explained that compared to general administrative proceedings things are handled differently within the BDA. Before the actual application was submitted there had been a line-up of meetings and talks. This information did not satisfy Ombudswoman Stoisits. From the Austrian Ombudsman Board’s point of view the application is lacking regarding form and content giving the impression that the BDA did not act in accordance with the rule of law. The Austrian Ombudsman Board will continue its investigative proceedings on this case.