Jičín has drawn five companies for the competition to build an ice rink

Jičín - Companies Geosan Group, Hochtief, Metrostav, VCES, and the consortium of companies M-Silnice and PSG International will compete for a contract worth about 85 million crowns for the construction of the roofing and facilities for the ice rink in Jičín. The city hall drew these five entities from nine applicants. According to the city hall representatives, the companies should submit their offers by mid-June.
    According to Mayor Martin Puš, the city narrowed the selection of applicants through a lottery to facilitate faster evaluation of a smaller number of offers. They also wanted to eliminate the risk of many potential appeals that could delay the selection of a winner and, consequently, the commencement of the entire construction. According to Puš, the city expected over 20 companies to apply. The companies BAK, Eiffage, CGM Czech, and Zlínstav were not drawn. The competition is organized by the company Ingeniring Krkonoše.
    The city hall anticipates that if the competition proceeds smoothly, the winning company could start construction in September. Everything could be completed in about a year, allowing the hockey players to make the entire 2011/2012 season.
    The city hall has been preparing the roofing of the stadium for several years. The seventeen-thousand Jičín is the last city in the region that still does not have an artificial ice surface with a roof to protect skaters and spectators from inclement weather. In previous years, covered stadiums have been established in nearby Lomnice nad Popelkou, Nový Bydžov, and Nová Paka, for example.
    Originally, the city had expected that part of the investment for the roofing would be covered by European grants. However, the city hall ultimately withdrew the grant application. They justified this by the conditions of the grant, according to which the stadium would have to fulfill a significant number of other functions alongside the offer for skating.
    The project for the stadium near the Kníže pond is already prepared by the city hall, including the building permit. The wooden structure resembles an inverted boat lying beneath the dam of a large body of water.
    The current main investment of the city is the construction of an outdoor swimming pool that started last year for more than 200 million crowns. For the swimming pool, which is to be completed this September, the city received a grant of 87 million crowns from European funds. The swimming pool is being built by the company Geosan Group.