Plzeňský region will build an athletics hall near the gymnasium for 120 million CZK

Plzeň - Plzeň Region will build a covered athletics facility next to the Sports High School in Plzeň-Skvrňany for 120 million crowns. In addition to a straight running track, throwing areas, long jump pits, and more, it will enable training for high jumpers who had to travel to Prague. The hall, including rehabilitation and facilities, was promised to the school by the previous regional leadership during the move from the Slovan city district. After today's approval of the budget by the representatives, Deputy Governor Marcela Krejsová (ODS) told ČTK.

"We will now quickly announce a tender for the contractor; we have the blessing and the implementation documentation," she stated. Construction is expected to begin in early next year and could be completed without equipment before the regional elections in the fall of 2020. "Originally, it was supposed to be an athletic tunnel, but now it is actually a covered athletic hall," she added.

It will be a building that will stand on pillars, beneath which there will be a parking lot built with a subsidy from the city. The tall structure next to the athletics stadium is not intended to obstruct anyone's view.

According to Deputy Governor Ivana Bartošová (Coalition for Plzeň Region), the region will seek a subsidy that the Ministry of Education will announce for sports high schools in the Czech Republic. "We have funds in the reserve fund that we use for our own investments or as contributions to EU subsidies," Krejsová stated.

The new hall will be managed by the school, which will create programs for its students and the Academy of Individual Sports of Plzeň Region. Athletes from clubs in Plzeň and the region will also train there.

Initially, only a covered athletic tunnel for running disciplines was to be built for 30 million, then the budget increased to double, and newly to 120 million to accommodate all disciplines, including pole vaulting, in winter training. Therefore, the originally proposed athletic hall had to be re-conceived. According to Bartošová, it could also be used for acrobatic trampoline jumping. "So far, we do not have this section because there is no hall in the region where children and youth can practice high jumping," she added.

The sports high school, with nearly 600 students, has had significant successes in various championships, and Plzeň is one of the few places without a covered sports facility for athletes. According to Deputy Governor Ivo Grüner (ČSSD), the hall will advance the gymnasium's athletes considerably. "We will ask the Ministry of Education for part of the money, which they promised us," he added.

The only sports high school in Plzeň Region, among whose alumni are goalkeeper Petr Čech, footballer Vladimír Darida, shooter Kateřina Emmons, tennis players Andrea Hlaváčková and Jonáš Forejtek, and skier Martin Jakš, moved on September 1, 2016 to the vocational school campus in Vejprnická street. The region, as the founder, has gradually invested 151 million crowns into the renovation of the school's facilities and the construction of new sports facilities.