The cost of converting the birthplace of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler into a police station has soared to four times the original budget, officials said on Friday.

The controversial project was decided upon three years ago to prevent the house in the small Austrian town of Braunau am Inn from becoming a sanctuary for neo-Nazi groups and right-wing extremists.

What's the problem?

A new estimate of the cost of the work is some €20 million (roughly $21.6 million), much more expensive than initially planned, according to the Austrian Interior Ministry.

The project, agreed upon by a commission of experts as the best plan for the building, had an initial budget of €5 million. That sum was already increased once, less than a year ago — to €11 million.

The plan to make the building, where Hitler spent the first months of his life, into a police station was agreed in 2019 after a lengthy legal battle as the state sought to take ownership of the once-private property. However, work on the conversion of the building, set to last until the end of 2025, has not yet begun — and costs have mounted.

The local Oberösterreichischen Nachrichten newspaper said the construction work initially had to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic and is now delayed because of an acute shortage of materials. 

As well as the delay, the rising budget has also been blamed more generally on skyrocketing costs in the construction sector, with major changes planned for the building.

Although less widely reported than core household products like food and fuel, the construction sector in Europe is another that has been hit hard by inflationary pressures over the past year.

The commission that decided on the project recommended architectural changes to make the edifice almost unrecognizable so it would become less attractive to neo-Nazis, who have repeatedly visited the site.

Authorities hope to eliminate any link between the building and the Nazi dictator. However, there will still be a monument in memory of the victims of Nazism nearby.

What had the building been used for?

Hitler's birthplace was shrouded in controversy for years. After a long court dispute between the previous owner and the state, the Austrian government decided in 2017 to expropriate the building.

In the Nazi era, the party established a cultural center with a gallery and public library at the house in honor of their leader.

After the war, US troops briefly opened a memorial there. It later housed a library, then a school.

Finally, for 30 years, the building was home to a workshop for people with intellectual disabilities. That closed in 2011 because of a need for renovation work and the building has since been vacant.

The small town of Braunau am Inn, with some 16,000 inhabitants, lies directly on the border with Bavaria in Germany — to the north of Salzburg and to the east of Munich.

rc/msh (AFP, EFE)