<p>Polička will renovate the winter stadium for 65 million crowns without VAT, but will not receive any subsidies.</p>

Polička - The town of Polička in the Svitavy region will repair the ice rink for 65 million crowns excluding VAT. Only one company applied for the tender, which thus had no price competition. The town hall hoped that the repair would be cheaper. This was stated by Mayor Jaroslav Martinů (ODS) to ČTK. The town is repairing the facility because its roof did not have sufficient load-bearing capacity.

The city wanted to reduce the repair costs with a grant from the National Sports Agency, but according to unofficial information so far, they will not receive the money. There were not enough funds in the grant program for all applicants, the mayor said. "These are enormous costs for us. We somewhat expected to pay less," Martinů said.

The repair of the roof is important for the town because the rink has only been operating in winter for 20 years due to an exception. The roof's load-bearing capacity does not meet the standards, and if it snows more in Polička, the management of the rink must remove the snow from the roof. They have been monitoring the situation in winter since 2006 when the roof of the rink in Humpolec collapsed under the weight of snow. A year later, the standards were tightened, and the Polička ice rink needs an operational exemption for each winter.

The town hall initially considered a cheaper solution than just the repair itself. They proposed installing a device to monitor the amount of snow on the roof. Opposition councilors wanted a safer solution. The proposal for adjustments was not approved by the building authority either. After several years of debate, this year the town selected a company that began work in March.

"According to the contract, the project should be completed by the end of August. From September we could start making ice. If there are no issues, we should manage to be ready for the winter season, which will be a small miracle," Martinů said.

The company is working on strengthening the structure; they had beams manufactured in Sweden and will soon supplement them among the existing parts. Their number will double. Since the start of the work, they have also removed the original cladding. "The entire hall will be newly clad. There will be insulation inside that will reasonably dampen sound," Martinů said.

The rink has been in operation since 1992. It has had roofing since 2004. This was the first stage of modernization, and further stages did not follow. According to the mayor, the technology at the ice rink is aging, and the town will have to modernize the machinery in the future.