In Ostrava, the reconstruction of the stadium at Bazaly begins for a quarter of a billion

Ostrava - The football stadium at Bazaly in Ostrava, where Baník used to play its matches, is beginning to be transformed into a modern training facility for youth from the entire Moravian-Silesian region. As early as Tuesday, the builders will start dismantling and demolishing the main grandstand, which should completely disappear within six weeks. The reconstruction of the facility will cost over 250 million, and players are expected to first step onto the new fields in September of next year. This was announced to journalists today by representatives of the city, the region, and the company Hochtief CZ, which is responsible for the construction.

The company took over the construction site today. "Within six weeks, the demolitions should be completed and we should start the construction of the new building. We will begin to create retaining walls, pile walls, work will also start on landscaping, filling for the new training fields, and we will commence work on the new building. The monolithic structure should be completed by the end of the year," said David Horák, director of the Moravian division of Hochtief.

The new main building of the facility will be built on the foundations of the current main grandstand. "Maximum space will be utilized for the players' locker rooms, for their regeneration and rehabilitation, including the workplaces of physiotherapists and doctors. There will be dining facilities, as well as administrative and technical support. The building will also include a gym where futsal matches can be played," said the designer Pavel Krátký from Projektstudio EUCZ.

During the reconstruction of the facility, the areas of the football pitches will be particularly expanded. "The main football pitch will be adapted for a universal training field, which will allow for three cross training pitches or a standard pitch for championship matches," Krátký said.

In the southern part of the facility, where there is currently one training pitch, two will be created after significant terrain modifications of the slope. "One will have artificial turf and the other will have natural grass. The pitch with artificial turf will also be equipped with artificial lighting," Krátký said.

A new stand with a capacity of 450 seats will be built near the main area. Beneath it, there will be a covered sixty-meter running track. The current uncovered terraces will remain as reinforced structures on the slope, and the staircases will be renovated and modified for training purposes. The project also includes the reconstruction of the surrounding paved areas and the expansion of parking capacities.

The city of Ostrava, which owns the facility, will allocate 190 million crowns from its budget for the reconstruction, while the region will contribute 70 million. The Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR) will provide three million crowns each year for the operation of the football academy. About 350 players, both boys and girls, aged between six and 19, should train and play football at the facility.

Petr Mašlej, the youth sports director of Baník, stated that the club is struggling with a shortage of training areas. The reconstruction of the stadium at Bazaly will help solve the shortage of pitches for youth. Talented children from the entire region will be in the FAČR academy at Bazaly. "Thanks to the fact that Baník Ostrava has a club academy, it has the first choice option and can take the best children from the academy into its club academy, starting from the U16 category, and subsequently participate in their development," Mašlej said.

Ostrava's Deputy Mayor Vladimír Cigánek (ODS) said that there is a shortage of about 16 football pitches in the city. Ostrava is currently preparing, among other things, a project for the reconstruction of the former VOKD facility in Poruba. "The facility will include both a football pitch and facilities for American football and track and field. The costs will be around 80 to 100 million crowns," Cigánek said.

The Bazaly Stadium in Silesian Ostrava was officially opened on April 19, 1959. In the turn of the 70s and 80s, attendances of thirty thousand were not uncommon; then the capacity was reduced, most recently to 10,039 seats. The Ostrava footballers won four championship titles in Bazaly (1976, 1980, 1981, 2004), and the Czech national football team played several matches there. The stadium has belonged to the city since 2013. Baník has been playing its matches at the renovated Municipal Stadium in Vítkovice since 2015.