Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) has rejected criticism from the opposition that the start of the planned police station at Kottbusser Tor will be significantly delayed.
“We are absolutely on schedule with the construction of the guard at Kottbusser Tor,” she announced on Tuesday. The necessary renovation work has already been completed. “The floor construction and the sanitary work will start shortly. The remaining construction work has been commissioned and, according to the current planning status, will be completed as planned at the beginning of 2023.”
The personnel concept for the police station in Berlin-Kreuzberg is also available. The recruitment process will be completed before the station goes into operation.
The Berlin CDU had previously accused the police and the interior senator that there was no personnel concept for the new Kotti guard. “There is not even a tender for the required staff,” criticized the CDU domestic politician Frank Balzer on Tuesday. The opening announced by the end of the year is unrealistic. “Given the crime burden, any further delay is unacceptable.”
Spranger had previously announced several times that the police station would move into the first floor of a high-rise building at Kottbusser Tor in early 2023, right next to a well-known pub across the street. She has budgeted 3.5 million euros for the conversion and safety precautions.
According to the Berlin real estate company, basic renovations, police technology and safety glass for the windows are particularly expensive. The expansion of the 200 square meter rooms for the guard should start in June. There is currently nothing to see from the outside, the windows are taped from the inside.
