The sports complex in the Pardubice housing estate Dukla will be designed by cold architects

Pardubice - Pardubice are starting to design the first phase of the reconstruction of the sports complex in the Dukla housing estate. For more than ten million crowns excluding VAT, a selected architectural firm will prepare the documents for the construction of an athletic hall, which should cost hundreds of millions of crowns. It could already be serving athletes in 2021. This was said to reporters today by Deputy Mayor Jakub Rychtecký (ČSSD).

"If everything goes according to schedule and a contractor would be selected in 2020, the hall could be completed a year later," said the Deputy Mayor.

An international jury selected the two best architectural designs from 21 submissions at the end of last year. Originally, the competition was won by a Franco-Czech design. However, the documents will ultimately be processed by a Slovak office named Studený Architekti, which offered a lower price than its competitor.

"According to the public procurement law, two teams competed for the contract for complete design work. The solution from the Slovak team regarding the arrangement of individual elements, operation, and central entrance is practically almost the same as that of the competition winner," Rychtecký stated.

In the area from the 1950s, the city wants to build an athletic hall with a 200-meter oval and a capacity of at least 500 seats. Later, a multifunctional sports hall for more than 2,500 spectators, a gymnastics gym, halls for combat sports, a fitness center, and an indoor running track should be created. The inflatable hall should be converted into a hall for ball sports.

Slovak architects have invited Czech design offices to collaborate. Within 90 days, they will finalize the study with which they succeeded in the competition. They will have regular consultations with representatives of the city’s design team, including experts and representatives of sports clubs that will use the facilities. By the middle of next year, they must complete the documentation for the zoning decision.

“I think there will be a specification of user parameters. By the end of the year, we will finalize the design study; the design process will take a year and a half, resulting in the project of an athletic hall with a central arena, which creates the background for the future development of the complex,” architect Ján Studený told ČTK.

The costs of the first phase will not exceed 350 million crowns. The total costs are estimated by the city to be around one billion crowns. The councilors have already approved the funding for the project. “For the actual construction of the first phase, we expect funding from both our own sources and external sources. We want to pursue a state grant in connection with the memorandum with the Czech Athletic Federation and may possibly use a loan,” Rychtecký said.