The ZČU campus wants to be a public space that will thrive year-round

Plzeň - The West Bohemian University (ZČU) wants to become a public space that will be lively year-round. It will offer sports, cultural, and intellectual activities for students, teachers, researchers, and families of Plzeň. At the end of September, or at the latest by December, the university will present to the city and the public the complete layout of all ZČU facilities and the revised development plan for the Green Triangle area, adjacent to the massive industrial, commercial, and research zone of Borská Pole. In the planned construction of sports facilities, an amphitheater, and additional infrastructure, it aims to involve the region, the city, and other entities, utilizing EU subsidies. This was stated by Rector Ilona Mauritzová.
    "We don't want the campus to be just concrete, and for students and academics to come here only for classes. We want the academic community to live here like in other campuses in Europe, where they can go to the library, engage in sports, and stay in the café," she stated. The new library, set to open in September, is intended to be operational until 10 PM starting January. It will feature a café and both individual and group study rooms. The university will offer greater use of computer labs and free spaces in school corridors.
    A part of the plan, whose original version was approved back in September 2008, includes a second indoor hall, outdoor fields for soccer and volleyball, including beach volleyball, as well as space for athletics. ZČU plans to have an inline skating track around the campus. Everything is expected to be completed within five years.
    The school is currently finalizing, in collaboration with the physical education departments, the specifics of the sports facilities and the range of activities, which will be presented by the end of the year. "After that, negotiations will begin on who could participate in the construction of the sports facilities," the rector said. ZČU is primarily counting on the city and the region. "We are a university for the city and the region, and we want people to come here on weekends, to hold competitions and various activities. In other words, to create a 'univer city', a city within a city," the rector stated.
    ZČU is also addressing the utilization of the site for the originally planned Faculty of Philosophy, which will remain in the center of Plzeň. Furthermore, it will propose areas for parking, as there is enough space for it.
    According to the rector, the campus should increase the attractiveness of Plzeň in 2015, when the city will become a European cultural metropolis. The area with an amphitheater, which will be constructed by the Faculty of Art and Design next year, along with sports facilities, including expanded research centers and the nearby Techmania Science Centre, will become a significant part of the city and the region, added Mauritzová.
    All development lands belong to the university. The sports facilities will expand from the current sports hall towards the Klatovy bypass and will connect both sections of buildings. ZČU is currently mainly financing six research centers. It currently lacks funds for sports facilities, but will seek partners, including sports units and clubs, and monitor EU funding calls for the next planning period.