Postponed use of Hamlet building
It is not possible for us to obtain a building permit to establish a graduate house at the Hamlet building before these analyses have been carried out and the Capital Region of Denmark has approved that the former occupation permit can be maintained or laid down a number of further measures for the building. This has to be done before the building can be used.
Therefore the Hamlet building will not be ready for use as a graduate house in the autumn semester 2014. However, we expect that the graduate house will be ready for the spring semester 2015.
We would like to stress that no measurements show that it is dangerous to work in the Hamlet building. If the building should be polluted and this affects the working environment, we will take the necessary steps to contain and monitor the problem before the building is put to use.
We have already started to look for alternative class rooms for autumn 2014, and we expect that there will be enough room for teaching activities, however, it will not be of the same quality as our future graduate house.
The environmental permit
The Hamlet building is placed in a former industrial area, and is thus polluted on a par with other similar former industrial areas. There are procedures to contain this pollution. When the building was turned into a private hospital in the early 90's, a number of measurements to contain the pollution had already been initiated.
The owner was also ordered to carry out measurements of the air quality in the basement, but the case records show that the measurements have not been carried out. The building permit can only be granted on the basis of another special permit (a section 8 permit under the Danish act on soil contamination). The area is considered a focus area by the Capital Region of Denmark, who has to grant the permit. The Region can grant the permit with a number of requirements that CBS has to meet in order to obtain the permit.
It takes approximately 16 weeks to obtain the section 8 permit. Nothing seems to indicate that this period may be reduced, however, we will do everything we possibly can to reduce the loss of time. It is not possible for us to work on the building during the 16-week period, as the city of Frederiksberg cannot issue a building permit before the section 8 permit has been issued.
For more information, please contact University Director Peter Jonasson at mhk.ls@cbs.dk