<p>12 companies are interested in the construction of the football stadium in H. Králové.</p>

Hradec Králové - Representatives of all 12 registered construction companies attended today’s preliminary market consultations for the contract to build a football stadium in Hradec Králové. This was stated by the spokesperson of the municipality, Kateřina Šmídová, to ČTK. The meeting was closed to the public. The municipality wanted to learn from the construction companies what it should do to successfully find a contractor in the selection process. So far, the municipality has published three tenders, but all were canceled for various reasons. The contract has a maximum value set by the councilors at 605 million crowns excluding VAT.

For the city’s further steps, a standard competition or a competition announced by the so-called Design and Build method is in play. "From the contributions of the participating potential suppliers, it has emerged that in the case of announcing the method Design and Build, most would consider applying for such a competition," said Bláha.

The city will now analyze the outputs from the preliminary market consultations. "The city council will be informed about the further development regarding the stadium construction contract in December," said the spokesperson. Specific proposals for solutions should be presented to the councilors by Deputy Bláha at the beginning of March.

The city recently used the method of preliminary market consultations in seeking a contractor for the exhibition for the East Bohemia Museum, after two unsuccessful tenders. The city would like to announce the third competition for the exhibition in the first quarter of next year.

The city has been preparing the construction of the football arena on the site of the inadequate multipurpose stadium for over 15 years. In the last competition, only one bid was received, which significantly exceeded the maximum price set by the city. The only applicant offered a price of 770 million crowns excluding VAT. Therefore, the councilors canceled the tender.

The management of the football club FC Hradec Králové and some councilors believe that the city should try to find a construction company in the fourth competition. They point out that the city has a building permit for the construction after many years of effort, which would be a shame to lose. On the contrary, the opposition Pirates advocate that the city should start the project completely from scratch and begin with an architectural competition.

The third competition included a stadium with four stands and grass, and the construction was supposed to take 18 months. The stadium is to accommodate 10,000 spectators. The typical lighting with four so-called “lollipops” should remain, although in a modernized form. In the autumn of 2017, the city had the western stand demolished, leaving only an earthen embankment. From the current stadium, only the eastern stand is to remain as a facility for the training grounds' needs.