The construction of a new sports hall was repeatedly postponed. As early as the 1960s there were plans for a new sports facility in Versbach. Until 2017. The then board of directors is starting to build a new double hall. The new hall is ready after just one year of construction. This is thanks to the management team at the time, headed by Christine Rieß.
For his services, the former board of directors of the Sportbund Versbach was awarded the “Board of the Year” award last Wednesday. honored. The former chairman, Christine Rieß, was presented with the trophy and a EUR 1,000 bonus donated by Sparkasse Mainfranken. The award is given in cooperation with Main-Post, the Association of Würzburger Sportvereine and Sparkasse Mainfranken ?? this year for the 28th time.
The new sports facility is more than just a large multi-purpose hall. There are large and small sports rooms on around 1,400 square meters and two floors. “We asked the individual sports departments what they needed before building,” says Riess. The result: Above all, you need small spaces to train. And so today there is a mirror room in which the guard rehearses and rooms for the fitness groups. “That was also good for our club, because it means that all departments meet in match operations,” says Rieß.
The association pulls together
The then board of directors plans the construction of the dual sports hall with determination and pragmatism. Above all Christine Rieß. She manages what rarely works in club life: teamwork across all sports departments. “It was really important to me that we are a club with many departments. The construction of the new hall has welded us together. We help each other. If the carnival society needs help, the footballers also help,” says the former chairman of her time at the top of the club.
“The construction of the new hall has welded us together. We help each other.”
Christine Rieß, former chairwoman of the association’s board–
Before the new building, the various sports departments, especially in the two Sports facilities of the club trained: at the Essigkrug and in the old TSV gym on Heide 1. The contact between the various sports departments was also scattered. The Sportbund, which was founded in 1862 as a gymnastics club, has been in 158 for the past 158 Years. More and more clubs have joined the sports association. Today there are nine sports and cultural departments in the club, as well as the Versbach carnival company.
Parallel games in the new hall
Meet architects, make tenders, draw up a requirement plan. The board meets every week for a year to discuss the project. What sets the board apart is the efficiency with which they approach planning. “We kept asking ourselves what can we afford and what can be left out?” Say the board members. So new rooms were drawn in during the construction and another floor on top, which was only intended as a future extension. “Building the sports hall is like building your own home, only bigger,” says Günther Ries, the CFO at the time. For a year, the project also determined the board members’ free time and even their lunch breaks.
“Building the sports hall is like building your own home, only bigger.”
Günther Ries on the new construction of the sports hall –
At around three million euros, the 1400 square meter hall is relatively cheap. The association did a lot on its own: “The shell of the hall was built by companies, but we made all the furnishings ourselves. We built in benches, cloakrooms and the kitchen. Not to mention the difficult image we had of the old in have worn the new hall, “says Christine Rieß.
In addition, there was work on fire protection and the outdoor system, the wooden cladding and leveling. One member even came by excavator to move the earth on the ground. Without the tireless commitment of the members, this would not have been possible, emphasizes Günther Ries: “Six of our members also worked permanently on the building. When we called them, they were there”.
Postponed again and again
The new building was postponed for decades. There were already plans to build a new hall in the 1960s. There was even a building permit. But the city blocks the grants. The building was put on hold for now.
The second attempt followed around 50 years later. The then board of directors wants to sell the sports halls at Essigkrug and the old TSV hall as soon as possible. But the potential buyer jumps off: “That was just two sizes too big for us. I then disengaged. I just thought this was the downfall of the association,” says the then finance director Ries. A short time later, the sale fails.
“It took us a long time to find a buyer who also complied with the requirements of the city of Würzburg,” says the chairwoman. The two halls at Essigkrug and at Heide were sold to a new buyer in 2017. The construction was financed with the proceeds from the sale as well as grants from the city of Würzburg and the Bavarian State Sports Association.
What remains is the cohesion
Today the different athletes pull together more than ever. For Christine Rieß this is her greatest achievement. With the construction project, the cohesion in the association has also grown: “In all the years that I was a member of the board, the greatest achievement has been that we have grown together. The younger generation in particular is very closely connected. We noticed that at the last Rochus Festival. It used to be that each department is busy with its own part. Now everyone works together. “
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