Pardubice will not be repairing the summer stadium

Pardubice - Pardubice councilors blocked further preparations for the reconstruction of the summer stadium on Thursday. The project, which also included modifications to the surrounding area, was estimated to cost 510 million crowns. Many councilors thought this was too much. Mayor Martin Charvát (ANO) informed ČTK of this today.

"To the critics of the reconstruction price, I would also like to remind them that the summer stadium was built during the First Republic, and since then, there have been no significant investments in it," the mayor stated. According to Deputy Mayor Jiří Rozinek (ČSSD), many saw the reconstruction as a stadium intended for a narrow group of users. "The entire revitalized area was meant to serve both the young football players and the general public for sports activities. I regret that this will not happen," he added.

To approve the stadium's revitalization, the proponents needed 20 votes but fell short by two. For instance, opposition councilor Karel Haas (ODS) criticized that the project's cost was disproportionately rising. Last year, he was informed of a sum of 350 million crowns.

According to the city leadership, opponents of the project misunderstood it. The stadium's reconstruction will cost 300 million crowns, while the rest will cover the surrounding infrastructure, street repairs, and parking spaces. "I regret that some colleagues apparently did not understand that this amount represents the revitalization of a whole vast area, not just the repair of one building," Rozinek stated.

The city wanted to carry out the modernization in 2019 and 2020. This was to be followed by a second phase costing 56 million crowns excluding VAT, which was to include modifications to the waterfront and new access to the water or the construction of a playground on U Stadionu Street. The leadership of Pardubice planned to finance both investments from a loan.