Jihlava is investigating whether it can obtain a subsidy for the reconstruction of the stadium as a brownfield

Jihlava - The town hall in Jihlava is determining whether it could receive another grant for the construction of a multi-purpose arena on the site of the old ice rink from a program focused on so-called brownfields. Mayor Petr Ryška (ODS) told reporters today that this grant title is expected to be announced around January 10. The city received the lowest bid for the construction of the arena in a tender, amounting to 1.9 billion crowns, and is lacking part of the funds. According to the mayor, one of the options being considered is to repeat the competition.

The leadership of Jihlava wants to decide on the next steps as soon as possible. "The longer we prolong it, the more we complicate things for Dukla, for youth, and for other ice sports in their activities. Of course, there are hundreds of children and hundreds of parents associated with it, which poses a complication," said Ryška. The old ice rink is closed, and the hockey team Dukla is playing games in Pelhřimov and Jindřichův Hradec.

For the construction of the Horácká multifunctional arena, Jihlava received five price offers in July, ranging from 1.9 to 2.25 billion crowns. The tender has not yet been concluded. Ryška stated today that the bids were submitted by construction companies at a time when prices for construction materials and work were at their peak due to inflation. However, he mentioned that it is uncertain whether a new competition would yield a lower price.

"It's about 50-50 whether we would get a better price or not," stated Deputy Mayor Radek Popelka (ANO). He noted that in the meantime, steel prices have significantly decreased, which affects the construction costs, but in the new year, cement prices are expected to rise again, which will increase concrete costs.

The Vysočina Region promised half a billion crowns for the construction of the arena, and Jihlava expects another 300 million from the National Sports Agency. At the last meeting before the municipal elections in September, Jihlava councilors instructed officials to negotiate with banks about a possible increase in the loan from 600 million to 800 million crowns. The city would then need to raise another 300 million to finance the project.

Regarding whether the city has a chance to obtain a grant from the upcoming program focused on brownfields, the city leadership would like to have clarity before the city council meeting on December 20. If Jihlava can enter this program and increase the loan, the mayor stated that there would still be some money missing for the arena, but it would not be such a large amount anymore.

"It would probably be up to the December council meeting to say if we will start the construction as we tendered," Ryška mentioned. He added that the city is still negotiating with the private sector regarding the financing of the arena.