Liberec Region has a new ice hockey stadium after 10 years, it is located in Turnov

Turnov (Semilsko) - Another new covered ice rink in the Liberec region was opened yesterday in Turnov in the Semily district. The construction of the stadium Ludvik Košek and accompanying infrastructure cost the city 96 million crowns excluding tax. There has never been an ice rink in Turnov, even though the local hockey club was established back in 1931. This was stated by Pavel Mlejnek, a member of the executive committee of the hockey club and a high school teacher.
    In the fifteen thousand strong town, there had only been outdoor rinks, which changed locations. "It was on tennis courts, between bridges, behind the Sokol gym, on a football field, and in the barracks, where officers made a playground for their children and soldiers on one of those so-called parade grounds," Mlejnek noted.
    The people of Turnov had hopes for an artificial rink back in the 1970s, but that fell through. For the last ten years, there was only one smaller rink available on Nádražní Street. "The interest in it was great," said Jindřich Kořínek, the managing director of Městská sportovní Turnov, which operates the stadium. Michaela Konopková, who came to see the new stadium with her family today, confirmed this. "The space was small and the rink was very busy. It was difficult for small children to skate there," she noted.
    The public will be able to use the stadium five days a week, with up to five hours available each day. "The stadium will practically be open all the time. Schools will also use it, and two unregistered leagues of six teams will play here," Kořínek stated. The season will also be longer; outside, skating was possible from December to February, while at the stadium it will be from September to the end of March.
    This is the seventh covered winter stadium in the region, two of which are in Liberec. Before Turnov, the last stadium built in the region was the Liberec Home Credit arena for 7,500 spectators, where the extraleague team Bílí Tygři plays. The Turnov hall is more modest, with a seating capacity of 350. Athletes have access to seven changing rooms. There are 134 parking spaces for cars and four for buses in the parking lot. Outside, there are photographs from the past of the local HC Turnov 1931. "The constituent meeting for what was then Canadian hockey was held at the Modrá hvězda hotel in November 1931. The club was founded by tennis players," Mlejnek mentioned. The oldest documented match in bandy hockey with a ball on ice took place in the city in 1901.
    The stadium is named after the nearly forgotten Turnov native, hockey player, and RAF pilot Ludvik Košek. He played ice hockey in Turnov during the interwar period; in April 1944, during his return from a mission, his bomber crashed, and the entire crew perished. To honor his heroic death as a pilot of the 311th RAF bombing squadron, a hockey tournament named after Košek was held in Turnov until 1952.
    The winter stadium, with a roof shaped like a leaf, is part of the developing sports and recreational complex Maškova zahrada on the left bank of the Jizera River in the southern part of the city. Construction will continue in the area, where a new swimming pool with water attractions, a slide, and slides will open in the summer. The complex will also have an inline track, a skatepark, children's playgrounds, and sports fields. Overall, it is a project worth approximately 175 million crowns.