The construction of the football stadium in Hradec has received a zoning decision

Hradec Králové - The currently second-league football club FC Hradec Králové is looking forward to a new stadium. The construction of the arena and shopping center for 3.75 billion CZK in Hradec Králové today received a definitive zoning decision. The regional office of the Hradec Králové Region rejected all submitted objections. This was reported to ČTK by Milan Šedivý from the Hradec football club.
    "Today is a big day for all of us. We have been waiting for this decision for more than five years. It has been confirmed that a new stadium can be built on the site of the old stadium," said the club director Richard Jukl. According to him, work is already underway on the plans necessary for obtaining a building permit. "The stadium is slowly but surely taking shape on the drawing board," Jukl stated.
    Opponents of the project filed a total of 14 appeals against last December’s non-definitive zoning decision, criticizing primarily the construction of shops. Representatives of the development company ECE Projektmanagement described the opponents' objections as demagoguery in April this year and estimated that construction could begin in 2015.
    The acquisition of legal force of the zoning decision was welcomed by the deputy mayor of Hradec Králové, Jindřich Vedlich. "We will continue the work of a group composed of designers, representatives of the football club, the city, fans, and other entities to obtain the documentation for the building permit," Vedlich told ČTK, who did not want to estimate the timelines for obtaining the building permit or starting the construction of the arena yet.
    The principle of the project is that ECE will buy the land for its shopping center Arkády from the city for 259 million CZK. The city will then build the new stadium itself. ECE has also committed to provide the football club with 176 million CZK over ten years and will also pay approximately 115 million CZK for infrastructure, transport connection, and the demolition of the stadium.
    The construction of the stadium is expected to cost the city around 550 million CZK and should take one year. The Hradec city hall does not expect any money in its budget for next year for stadium construction. An expenditure of 240 million for the stadium is currently included in the budget outlook for 2015.