Jihlava will receive a grant of 300 million crowns for the arena from the National Sports Agency.

Jihlava - Jihlava will receive 300 million CZK from the National Sports Agency for the construction of a multifunctional arena. The decision to grant the subsidy was received by the city hall on Monday. This was stated by David Beke (ODS), a city councilor and manager of the stadium construction, on the city website. The new arena will cost 1.9 billion CZK excluding VAT, with half a billion coming from the Vysočina Region. The remaining costs will be covered by the regional city from its own resources and through loans.

"The preparation of the project was a long and challenging journey. I am glad that we managed to do it," Beke stated. According to the city hall, the National Sports Agency (NSA) set the deadline for completing the multifunctional hall for December 31, 2026.

"However, we expect that the general contractor, the construction company GEMO, will meet the contractual deadline for the implementation of the construction and complete it within 26 months from the start. We want to open the Horácká multifunctional arena in the autumn of 2025," said Mayor Petr Ryška (ODS).

The Horácká multifunctional arena (HMA) will be located at the site of the old ice rink, which the city will demolish. The demolition will begin on August 1. The demolition order, whose issuance was delayed in spring due to objections from some residents of nearby apartment buildings, gained legal force last week. "The last two formal conditions for the commencement of construction were met when the demolition order gained legal force on Thursday, July 20, 2023, and when the NSA confirmed the allocation of the grant to us on July 24," summarized Beke.

The stadium from the 1950s is already cleared inside, and workers are now building noise and dust barriers along Tyršova Street. The demolition of the old sports facility is expected to last until the end of November. Concurrently, builders will be preparing for the new construction.

The Horácký winter stadium in Jihlava has been closed since last year due to poor roofing, and the hockey team Dukla is playing its matches in Pelhřimov and Jindřichův Hradec. The new arena will not only serve hockey and other sports but is also planned to host cultural and social events. The city hall will ceremonially commence the construction on Friday.