Redesign completed: Aasee terraces now open to the public

The redevelopment work on the Aasee terraces has been successfully completed. From this week onwards, the approximately 4,800-square-metre site is once again fully open to residents and visitors to the city. The result is an attractive recreational space offering a high quality of experience, which directly links the kubaai site and the city centre with the Aasee.

In January this year, extensive work began on the redevelopment of the lakeside area. Despite a weather-related interruption of around four weeks in March due to high water levels in Lake Aasee, the project was able to proceed swiftly and has now been completed. With its opening this week, Bocholt regains a key attraction by the water.

The centrepiece of the project is the approximately 140-metre-long and four-metre-wide lakeside promenade, which has been designed to be accessible to all visitors. A real eye-catcher is the seven-metre-wide stepped area in the centre of the site. In future, it will create a direct and inviting link between the kubaai site across Uhlandstraße and the lakeside.

Above the promenade, tiered concrete seating terraces - some fitted with wooden slats - serve as multi-generational benches, offering a variety of places to linger whilst enjoying views of the water. On the Gustav-Heinemann Promenade, play facilities made from tree trunks further enhance the leisure options.

""With the new Aasee terraces, the town of Bocholt is moving yet a little closer to the water,"" says Bocholt's Head of Urban Planning, Dave Welling. ""We're looking forward to seeing how the people of Bocholt take to the new area,"" says Welling.

"First the R-Café, now the completed promenade - I think it's brilliant", says Mayor Christian Mangen. He refers to the recently redesigned cycle and footpath link between the town centre and kubaai: "We've really created something here that people love and which has been very well received", says Mangen.

The area has also been significantly enhanced from an environmental perspective: the old bank reinforcement was completely removed and replaced with a natural-looking shoreline. Up to 800 cubic metres of soil were moved during the earthworks and planting. Across an area of 750 square metres, around 6,000 perennials, 900 shrubs, 5,000 flower bulbs and 20 trees and shrubs provide green accents along the steps and terraces. In addition, there are around 2,000 square metres of newly created seedbeds.

The total cost of redesigning the site, which includes not only the public areas but also two building plots, amounts to around one million euros.