Building the infrastructure of the Šumperk ice hockey arena is postponed, the grant title has been canceled

Šumperk – The long-planned construction of facilities for hockey players at the Šumperk indoor stadium is postponed. The reason is the cancellation of the grant title by the National Sports Agency, for which the City Enterprises of Šumperk (PMŠ) had applied. The administrator had already received funding from the region for the project and had also allocated its own resources, wanting to start construction as soon as possible. The reason for the construction modifications, estimated at around 40 million crowns, is primarily the unsatisfactory condition of the locker rooms. The cancellation of the grant was confirmed today by the city hall spokesperson Soňa Singerová.

According to PMŠ Director Miroslav Pospíšil, a competition had already been announced, a contractor selected, and they were only awaiting official confirmation of the grant allocation. "The application administrator assured us that everything was going well, that the substantive and formal evaluation of our application had been completed, and that he expected the project to be registered by the end of the month and that we would be notified," Miroslav Pospíšil told ČTK.

However, a few weeks later, the National Sports Agency announced that it was completely canceling the relevant grant title and replacing it with another one that is supposed to be fairer for applicants. Projects are to be evaluated not by the order in which grants were applied for, but by quality. "The problem, however, is that the new call does not apply to commercial companies, even though they are wholly owned by the city, which is also the case for the City Enterprises of Šumperk. Therefore, we submitted an application to another program," Pospíšil added. He is concerned that the company will not be able to secure funds for new facilities for the hockey players.

The municipal enterprises wanted to embark on the construction because the facilities for the hockey players are no longer sufficient in terms of capacity or hygiene. The extension was to be built on green space and was to connect to the northern perimeter wall of the structure. Under the new northern stand, storage spaces, drying rooms, and laundry facilities were to be located, alongside the locker rooms, there was to be a gym, washing rooms, and toilets, classrooms, and a recovery zone, the city spokesperson had previously stated.

"The locker rooms have practically been in the same condition for about 30 years; they are now inadequate. The Šumperk hockey players play in the extraleague and are among the successful teams. The facilities they operate in definitely do not meet their needs. In addition to dignified locker rooms, there is also a lack of necessary relaxation and rest zones. Quality facilities are also needed for youth teams," Pospíšil added.