The stadium in Hradec Králové will be delayed by a month, and it should be completed by July 30.

Hradec Králové - The construction of the new football stadium in Hradec Králové will be delayed by one month. Including the approval process, it should be completed by July 30. The city's mayor, Pavlína Springerová (Hradecký demokratický klub), told ČTK today. According to the contract, the completion deadline, including the approval process, is June 30. "We are dealing with the deadlines for approvals, so we cannot set a specific date at this moment," said Strabag spokesperson Edita Novotná to ČTK.

The construction of the football arena, costing 650 million crowns excluding tax, began in August 2021. It is the largest construction project in the modern history of the city. The city has been preparing the project on the site of the partially demolished multi-sport stadium from 1966 for over 15 years. The construction consortium consists of the companies Strabag, Geosan Group, and D&D Elektromont.

According to the mayor, the city held discussions with the companies on Tuesday regarding the situation. They set crucial dates as August 5, when the first home match of the first-league club FC Hradec Králové is to take place at the stadium, and September 3, when the stadium is to be ceremonially opened to the public. "The companies agreed and declared that they are capable and willing to complete the construction by July 30 so that it can be ready and approved for the first home game," said the mayor.

Construction workers, according to Novotná, expect the first match to be held at the stadium on August 5. "Work on the stadium is currently running at full capacity seven days a week. The grass is starting to turn green, and all types of finishing work are being carried out in both the interiors and exteriors. There are around 200 workers on the construction site," she said.

Deputy Mayor for Investments Lukáš Řádek (TOP 09) reminded that the city expressed concerns in April that the construction of the stadium could be extended by six to eight weeks. This risk, according to him, still exists. "The contractor assures us that they will do their utmost in the final stretch to allow the first match to be played on August 5," he stated.

In the event of non-compliance with the deadlines, the contract provides for financial penalties for the contractor, calculated as a percentage of the project price. The daily penalty for the first 13 days of delay amounts to 113,600 crowns. From the 14th day onwards, the penalties amount to 284,000 crowns per day.

Regarding the application of penalties, Springerová stated that the city is bound by the contract in this matter. "We will hold a meeting with the consortium of companies to clarify the conditions defined in the contract and how to proceed," she said.

The stadium operator for the next two years will be the city club FC Hradec Králové, which will pay the city an annual rent of 8.5 million crowns excluding VAT. According to the mayor, this will be a two-year verification period. Through the club, the city will also be able to oversee the additional equipping of the arena for its multi-purpose use. The region will provide the city with 100 million crowns over the next three years for this purpose.

With the completion of the stadium, discussions have arisen regarding the appearance of the stadium's outer shell. For example, according to some opposition councilors, the cladding appears too transparent and does not correspond to the visualizations of a solid shell presented before construction. Řádek stated today that the design of the shell was decided in May last year, and the cladding was selected from alternatives through a sampling process.

According to the architects of the stadium, the choice of cladding was a compromise dictated by the timing of selecting a specific type of expanded metal. "It had to be chosen from those expanded metals that were actually available in Europe last spring, whose parameters matched the bidding conditions and would not incur additional costs for the investor amounting to possibly tens of millions of crowns," said architect Tomáš Vymetálek. He noted that there was agreement on the final type used for the facade among the technicians, builders, project managers, and city representatives. "However, the stadium is not completely finished yet, so let's wait for the final result," Vymetálek added.

The stadium is expected to meet UEFA Category 4 standards, which are for international matches. It will have a capacity of 9,300 spectators.