Ahorn-Sportpark expands infrastructure for competitive sport

The Ahorn-Sportpark at sunrise

Ahorn-Sportpark

The photo shows the official ground-breaking ceremony marking the start of the construction phase for the new strength and athletics area at Ahorn-Sportpark on the Northern car park. A total of eight people are holding spades. Five people are digging into a pile of sand with their spades. Behind the group of people, construction hoardings with banners have been erected and a large yellow excavator is standing there. The Ahorn-Sportpark building can be seen in the far background.

The construction phase for the new strength and athletics area at Ahorn-Sportpark has begun with the ground-breaking ceremony. In the foreground, from left: Michael Dufhues (Director of BREMER SE), Ralf Pahlsmeier (Managing Director of Ahorn-Sportpark gGmbH) and Martin Nixdorf (Chairman of the Westfalen Foundation). Behind them, from left: Prof. Dr Nikolaus Risch (Deputy Chairman of the Westfalen Foundation), Christoph Plöger (Ahorn-Sportpark gGmbH), Hermann Wulf (Project Manager at BREMER), Daniel Fedrau (Quantity Surveyor at BREMER) and Fabian Heister (Head of the Existing Buildings Department at BREMER)

Besim Mazhiqi

Ground-breaking for new strength and conditioning area at the Ahorn-Sportpark

The construction work to expand the Ahorn-Sportpark officially began with the ground-breaking ceremony on 19 February 2026. The new building will provide more than 850 m² of space for strength and conditioning training, creating the urgently needed capacity to offer the best possible training conditions for elite athletes from the sports clubs based at the Ahorn-Sportpark.

The new building complex is being constructed on part of the north car park and will be directly connected to the existing infrastructure of the Ahorn-Sportpark. As part of the development, the strength and conditioning facilities currently located in different areas of the Ahorn-Sportpark will be brought together in one place. The aim is to optimise training conditions for athletes over the long term and expand the existing capacity to meet future needs.

With around 540,000 users, the Ahorn-Sportpark is the largest multifunctional sports and leisure facility in the region. Elite sport is a particularly important part of the venue, which is home to three state performance centres for baseball, athletics and squash.

“Until now, limited capacity meant that the strength and conditioning area was spread across three separate rooms. This made both efficient training and organisation more difficult,” explains Ralf Pahlsmeier, Managing Director of the Ahorn-Sportpark. He adds that strength and conditioning training is becoming increasingly individualised and time-intensive, which has led to a significant rise in demand for the available space. “We have already had to make do with very limited space in recent years, but we have now reached the point where we are bursting at the seams,” says Pahlsmeier, describing the current situation.

The construction project is being financed entirely by Stiftung Westfalen, one of the two Nixdorf foundations and the sole shareholder of the Ahorn-Sportpark. “With this new building, we are supporting not only the further development of the Ahorn-Sportpark’s infrastructure, but above all the next generation of performance-oriented athletes from Paderborn’s sports clubs,” explains Martin Nixdorf, Chairman of the Board of Stiftung Westfalen. A deliberate decision was made not to apply for public funding in order to speed up the implementation process while at the same time strengthening cooperation with local businesses and supporting regional value creation.

The project is being delivered in partnership with BREMER, the Paderborn-based specialist in turnkey industrial and commercial construction. “The Ahorn-Sportpark is an integral part of Paderborn as a sporting city. As a Paderborn-based company, we are therefore delighted to be delivering this important new building,” says Michael Dufhues, member of the Executive Board of BREMER SE.

As part of the project, the cycling infrastructure at the main entrance will also be further developed. The existing bicycle parking area is to be expanded and modernised with additional covered spaces, further encouraging sustainable and environmentally friendly travel to the Ahorn-Sportpark.

Completion of the new strength and conditioning area is planned for the end of August 2026. With this investment, the Ahorn-Sportpark is once again demonstrating its commitment to the continuous development of its sporting infrastructure and the long-term support of elite sport in the region.