Some citizens of Č. Budějovice disagree with the demolition of the sports hall

České Budějovice - Some residents of České Budějovice disagree with the demolition of the sports hall planned by the city. The municipality wants to build a multifunctional center in its place for more than 300 million crowns. Residents argue that the sports hall is a symbol of the city and that its condition is satisfactory, so the demolition is unnecessary. According to the citizens, the multifunctional center could be built elsewhere, allowing the city to have two sports facilities available.

"The current hall is functional. A few months ago, the city invested in modernizing the athletic track located in the hall. And now everything is supposed to be demolished," said former city councilor Stanislav Rataj, who is part of the group of residents fighting against the demolition of the sports hall, at today's council meeting.

Construction of the multifunctional center is set to begin this summer. The work is expected to last about a year and will be preceded by the demolition of the current hall. The new facility will have two identical courts. The spectator capacity will also increase, allowing up to 2,250 viewers to watch volleyball matches instead of the current 1,500. In addition, the complex will be used for hosting cultural events. The idea for the new hall has primarily been supported by the volleyball club from České Budějovice, which has long been among the country's top teams. The parameters of the current hall do not meet the requirements for international matches, particularly concerning the ceiling height, which is nine meters from the court, and the new one should be three meters higher.

However, the multifunctional center does not include an athletic track, which is planned to be developed at the Oskar Nedbal elementary school site. "I can't imagine being without a track, where only from our club, over two hundred competitors train mainly in winter," said Jiří Couf, coach of the athletics section of Sokol České Budějovice, today.

According to Deputy Mayor Petr Holický (ANO), maintaining the sports hall would be a step backward. He stated that the technical condition of the facility is not ideal. "We would have to invest tens or maybe hundreds of millions of crowns into its revival. Moreover, the operation of the hall would still remain uneconomical. I think the discussions on this topic are already outdated," Holický said today.