Originally, a retirement home was to be built at the Rue de l’Hôpital in Diekirch. However, the plan had to be modified after a ruling from the Administrative Court declaring that the project did not correspond to the criteria of a public buildings and facilities zone (Zone de bâtiments et équipements publics).
In May 2023, just before the municipal elections, the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP)-led authorities purchased a building plot for nearly 10 million euros, with plans to construct a conservatory, complete with blueprints. However, the project was ultimately scrapped.
The current plans are to keep the building plot at the Rue de l’Hôpital for a potential extension of the primary school nearby. The Diekirch conservatory will therefore be moved from its current location at the Wirtgen Castle in Place Auguste Wirtgen to the Rue Sauerwiss. However, these ideas have struck a chord with the political opposition in the municipal council.
In the past municipal government, as the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party disposed of a majority, they had already expressed doubt about the suitability of the building plot at Rue de l’Hôpital for an annex building belonging to the primary school. The current municipal government between the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) and the Democratic Party (DP) requested that a study be made in order to clarify the matter, which gave a positive answer to the idea of an annex building for the primary school, according to mayor Charel Weiler (CSV). The study proposed two alternatives: either a building consisting of 18 classrooms for 430 school students or a building that can house 14 classrooms for a total of 336 school students.
Due to difficulties of finding spots for school students in Diekirch and its surroundings, municipal authorities have decided to reserve the site at Rue de l’Hôpital for the extension of the primary school, according to Weiler. Otherwise children were to be distributed across different primary schools in Diekirch.
The development of the population in Diekirch will be taken into consideration in order to determine the exact moment of the construction of the annex building. The LSAP and its previous mayor of Diekirch Claude Thill expressed criticism against the idea and stressed their commitment to their plans for a conservatory to foster music and culture for children.
However, there are dissenting opinions within the opposition as well. Councillor Frank Thillen of The Greens (déi gréng) reacted positively to the idea of moving the conservatory to the Rue Sauerwiss, praising the street’s proximity to the local high school and to school students in general.
Furthermore, mayor Charel Weiler rebukes the criticism that public funds invested for the blueprints of the conservatory would go down the drain if it is determined that the conservatory will not be built at the Rue de l’Hôpital, as the building plot and the blueprints were overpriced. He further stated that it is not clear whether a conservatory could have even been built on the basis of such blueprints. Municipal authorities have requested a study to determine the suitability of the blueprints with regard to “building standards” for conservatories, according to Weiler.
It is still unclear when construction will begin at Rue Sauerwiss. The Sauerwiss building, currently used by the Nordstad Lycée, will be available as soon as the Nordstad Lycée can move to the new premises next to the Ecole d’hôtellerie et de Tourisme du Luxembourg in Diekirch.
Importantly, a maison relais, which also formed part of the original idea of building a retirement home at Rue de l’Hôpital, is now fully operational. Municipal authorities have decided to purchase the building from the property developer, which required taking a loan of 28 million euros. The decision was made given that the municipality was paying a monthly rent of 190,000 euros. According to Weiler, the municipal government decided to pay for the purchase all at once, emphasising that this was the most economical solution.
