The tender for the stadium in H. Králové will be cancelled due to the high price

Hradec Králové - Today, the city council received one bid for the construction of a football arena in Hradec Králové, which, however, exceeded the maximum price set by the city of 605 million crowns without VAT. The city must cancel the competition. This was confirmed to ČTK by the deputy mayor for investments Jiří Bláha (ODS). The opposition councilor Aleš Dohnal (Pirates) was the first to bring the news of the cancellation of the tender due to the exceeding of the set price.

"The cancellation of the tender is, unfortunately, certain at this moment. My task now will be to propose possible options for further steps regarding the construction of the new football stadium to the councilors as soon as possible," said Bláha. He added that discussions about the next steps could take place on Tuesday at a council meeting.

According to Dohnal, the tender ended as expected in failure. The price offered by the only interested party was, according to him, significantly higher than 605 million crowns without VAT. The city council did not comment on the offered price.

The city has been preparing the construction of the arena for about 600 million crowns on the site of the unsuitable multi-sport stadium for over 15 years. The current tender, which was announced on July 9, is the third in order. The estimated price of the stadium for the third competition was set by the city at 550 million crowns without VAT. The city council determined a maximum non-exceedable value for bids of 605 million crowns without VAT.

According to Dohnal, it has become clear that the project was poorly prepared from the beginning and should have been revised. "It is not acceptable for extensive and expensive VIP facilities to be paid for with public money in the hundreds of millions of crowns, which even stadiums in Liberec, Teplice, or Plzeň cannot boast of," said Dohnal. He believes that the city management should start preparing the project from scratch again, including the participation of the opposition. In June, when the councilors approved the conditions of the tender, Dohnal criticized the project. "In half a year, it will fall under the table. No one will apply (for this price). We will not be able to manage a project tendered on price," he said at that time.

Last year, the city announced two tenders for the stadium, but both were canceled. After the cancellation of the last tender last November, the new ruling coalition of ANO, ODS, and Změna for Hradec commissioned two assessments to evaluate the project, construction costs, and recalculations of the load-bearing structure. According to the deputy for investments Jiří Bláha (ODS), the assessments revealed underestimation of the financial aspects and serious deficiencies in the documentation. The documentation was revised by the designer.

If the current third tender were successfully completed, construction could, according to the city’s plans, start at the beginning of next year, with a construction period of 18 months. The second-league club FC Hradec Králové will have facilities at the stadium and will play elsewhere during the construction.

The subject of the third competition included a stadium with four stands and a pitch. According to the city council, the estimated price also accounted for increases due to the rise in construction prices in recent years. The city has already allocated money for construction in the budget for the coming years.

The stadium is expected to have a capacity of 10,000 spectators. The typical lighting with four so-called "lollipops" is to be preserved, albeit in a modernized form. In the autumn of 2017, the city demolished the western stand, leaving only an earthen mound. From the current stadium, only the eastern stand should remain as a facility for training pitches.