Hradec Králové will cancel the tender for the construction of a new football stadium

Hradec Králové - The city of Hradec Králové will cancel the tender for a company to build a new football stadium for nearly 400 million crowns. The reason is an error by the competition administrator, who failed to extend the deadline for submitting bids in the electronic public procurement system. The decision to cancel the tender will be made by councilors on September 25. At the same time, they should approve the launch of a new competition. The spokesperson for the city hall, Petr Vinklář, said this today. The construction of the stadium is expected to be the largest investment by the city in recent years.

The stadium, prepared by the city for many years, is set to rise on the site of an already completely inadequate multi-purpose stadium from 1960. The city announced the tender on July 27, with the deadline for applicants to submit applications being set for August 31. However, due to inquiries from potential applicants, the deadline was extended twice, finally until October 31. However, the tender administrator, Smart Effect, forgot to extend the deadline on the buyer’s profile in the Tender Arena internet application. As a result, the system closed the first round and no further data can be entered into it.

"The city did not make any errors," Vinklář stated. According to him, the city will demand appropriate sanctions from the competition administrator and will consider terminating the contractual relationship as well. Continuing with the tender would pose a high risk of intervention from the Office for Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) or applicants, which would cause much greater delays and complications.

The city believes that after the repeated competition, the construction of the stadium could start in the spring of next year. Until now, January was mentioned. The city originally assumed that the competition would be announced in the spring of this year. The postponement to July was justified by late delivery of the project documentation, clarifications of item counts in the project, and the project's complexity.

The competition was announced for the construction of two grandstands, a new playing field, parking, and lighting in the shape typical for stadiums, resembling lollipops. The main western grandstand will include facilities for the club, players, journalists, and fans. The second northern grandstand will be located behind the goal in the direction of the Orlice River. The construction of the remaining two grandstands will take place later, depending on the city’s financial capabilities.

The tender for the construction company was intended to be two-stage. In the first round, the qualifications of the applicants were to be assessed. Only those who properly demonstrate the required qualifications would be invited to submit price offers.

The stadium, with a capacity of nearly 10,000 spectators, is also intended to serve as a multifunctional arena for hosting cultural events outdoors. The main part of the stadium will have a new entrance from Malšovická Street from the neighboring Flošna swimming pool, and additional parking will be added by the grandstands.

Last autumn, the roof, seats, commentary booth, and concrete on the surface of the sandy embankment disappeared from the western grandstand. The capacity of the stadium without the western grandstand dropped from 7,000 to 4,500 spectators. The Hradec Králové second-league club FC Hradec Králové has its facilities in the stadium.