The renovation of the Summer Stadium Pardubice will be confirmed in the fall

Pardubice - The modernization of the Summer Stadium in Pardubice will again be approved by the representatives in the autumn. By then, the selection process will be completed, and the city will also know how much it will be affected by the decrease in income due to the coronavirus epidemic. Therefore, the representatives will have the opportunity to say whether they will allow the construction to begin, Mayor Martin Charvát (ANO) said today. After reconstruction, the stadium is expected to have a larger capacity and parameters for the first football league.

The current leader of the second-highest league, FK Pardubice, is currently playing home matches at the Pod Vinicí stadium, which does not meet the first league criteria. If Pardubice were to be promoted, the club's management has already agreed that the Eastern Bohemian team will play home matches in exile in Mladá Boleslav in the next season.

Deputy Mayor Jan Mazuch (ODS) proposed today to postpone the investment of 430 million crowns until next year, but eventually withdrew the proposal. It was enough for him to be reassured that the representatives will approve the winner of the selection process in the autumn and that a budget covering proposal for the investment project will be presented.

"In September or October, the Summer Stadium will return to the council, so we are not scared that we don’t have it. We will already know that the investment will be covered," said the mayor.

On June 15, the council approved the announcement of a selection process for a construction company. The repair of the stadium is criticized, for example, by the opposition Pirates. They are part of a civic-political initiative that opposes the investment. They are demanding a referendum so that the people can decide themselves.

Before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, 1800 people signed a petition for holding a referendum. The law requires 7000 signatures for it to be called. "It’s complete madness. If a second wave comes, you won’t have anything to live on. You will bankrupt the city," said representative of the initiative We Don’t Want a Stadium on Debt Dominik Bečka (Pirates).

The city wants to repair and modernize the stadium in the first phase without the eastern stand, which is a cultural monument, along with the surrounding streets and waterfront. The repairs are planned to take 20 months. Originally, the coalition considered repairing everything at once. However, the costs would exceed the city’s possibilities.

The city wants to finance the stadium repairs through a loan, and possibly will try to apply for some subsidies in the autumn. According to the mayor, the stadium is in a deplorable state, and the city is thus paying off a debt to a sports facility whose repairs were neglected in the past. "The stadium is underfunded by 150 to 200 million crowns," said Charvát.