Littering and rats prompt renovation of Little Theatre square
Rats love flower beds, and especially those at the Little Theatre square next to the Tinguely fountain in Basel’s city centre. The popular square is to be renovated at the cost of 350,000 Swiss francs because rubbish and food waste thrown into the bushes are attracting rats.
With its somewhat too low benches, the little square next to the Tinguely fountain seems to be unremarkable, yet it is popular among Baslers. They see it as a handy place in town to sit and eat lunch or even enjoy a beer in the evening, if it is not too cold.
With so many people using Theaterplatz, however, a lot of waste has appeared, and the flower beds are being used as a rubbish dump. To counteract this problem, the city gardeners are to bring in bulldozers in the spring to get rid of the flower beds.
«There is too much rubbish in the square and it is attracting rats,» Brigitte Vogel, spokeswoman for the city gardeners, said.
While there is rubbish in the bushes, on the upper square the mighty steel sculpture by Richard Serra gets abused nightly as maybe the most valuable urinal in the world: A renovation of the area around the theatre is really what is needed.
A fertile ground in Basel for trees
And not to mention the rats! Even the word sounds horrible, yet the rodents are spotted regularly around the city walls at Kohlenberg.
«The removal of the plant borders on the square is a measurement to avoid littering and its consequences,» said Ms Vogel.
The renewal works are also good for the trees: The gardeners will cultivate the roots and loosen the soil. Ms Vogel said the soil under the square was very dense, and loosening it would give the trees more air and water. Also, the soil will be nourished by a substrate especially for Basel, to cultivate and nourish the trees.
New benches and everything to be freshened up
As well as a better environment for the trees, the people who enjoy sitting in the square should also find it more comfortable. The benches are to be replaced and the entire 40-years-old square will be freshened up, with the restaurant in the passerelle also given an outdoors area for the summer.
The plans are available for public view at the Construction and Gastronomy Inspectorate. The works will start in spring or autumn, «before or after the season» according to Ms Vogel. The cost of the renovation will be paid for by VAT funds raised in Basel, meaning the government could give the project the go-ahead without involving the Grand Council at their meeting on 18 October last year.
The big and little Theatre square was established 40 years ago, following the opening of the old Stadttheater in 1975. Shortly afterwards, Jean Tinguely's Fasnachtsbrunnen was built as a gift from the Migros supermarket company to the city of Basel. The old theatre was eventually replaced with a new building designed by «Schwarz & Gutmann» architects.
Drugs discovered in tram
Swiss border guards recently discovered two kilos of marijuana in the carriage of a tram travelling between Germany and Switzerland.
The border guards were checking passengers on tram line 8 coming from Weil am Rhein to Basel when they noticed two men with a suitcase. The suitcase was searched and found to contain two kilos of marijuana.
The drugs and the men, a 36-year-old Spaniard and a man of the same age from the Dominican Republic, were handed over to the cantonal police of Basel-Stadt. They are expected to appear before the prosecution at a later date.
Woman injured in accident on A18 motorway near Muttenz
A woman was injured in an accident involving three cars on the motorway on Thursday morning.
The accident happened at 6.45am at the entry to the A2 Motorway where the lanes from the A18 and Birsfelden merge.
According to early investigations of Baselland police, a 24-year-old female driver was heading towards Bern/Lucerne when the car she was driving collided with the back of the car in front of her. The force of the collision forced her to steer into the crash
barrier on her right side and then collide with another car in front of her. Two of the cars were seriously damaged.