The construction of the stands at the Za Lužánkami stadium will be demolished by Brno, but the earthworks will be retained

Brno - The city will demolish the grandstand structures at the Za Lužánkami stadium in Brno next year, while leaving the earthworks intact. After the necessary terrain adjustments, the area will be grassed over and opened to the public. The summary of the works was approved by the council at their last meeting, the municipality informed today in a press release. Discussions about the demolition have been ongoing since the beginning of last year. The need to demolish the dilapidated football facility arose from a survey conducted by experts from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Brno University of Technology.

"We approved the smallest possible scope of demolition that we decided on last autumn. While the grandstand structures will be removed, we will keep the earthworks. We will only transport away the truly unusable waste; the crushed rubble and soil will remain in place to avoid changing the load on the area. Subsequently, everything will be grassed over," said sports councilor Tomáš Aberl (TOP 09). According to him, this is a way to create a safe space that can be freely accessible to the public until a final decision is made about the future appearance of this location, and at minimal cost.

The grandstands of the unused and dilapidated stadium are structurally compromised and in a state of emergency. The city closed the former sports facility and its surroundings last May, and a decision regarding the removal of the structure gained legal force in October. The demolition is planned for next year. The costs will only be known after the public procurement tender is conducted. The processed project documentation indicates that the estimated cost will be around 190 million crowns.

Regarding the future use of the Ponava area, more will be revealed by the urban study arising from the competitive dialogue. Given the size of the project, the city has also launched an online survey for the public, allowing people to respond until October 20. The data collected will serve as a basis for architects and urban planners during the dialogue and subsequently in the preparation of the study. Final offers, from which a contractor for the study will be selected, are expected to be submitted by candidates in the second half of June 2025.

The Za Lužánkami stadium, where Zbrojovka Brno won its only title years ago, still holds the attendance record for the highest football league. In October 1996, 44,120 spectators attended the match between Brno and Slavia. The last league match there was played in September 2001. Since then, the stadium has deteriorated. In 2015, it came alive thanks to the farewell match of footballer Petr Švancara, which attracted nearly 35,000 spectators. In 2019, a film about the legendary runner Emil Zátopek was shot at the stadium.