In Brno, an athletic hall will be built for 350 million without a competition

Brno - The Brno city council today approved a memorandum of cooperation between the city, Masaryk University, and the Czech Athletic Union, which aims to support the preparation, construction, and operation of a new athletic hall. Both the university and athletes would use it. The estimated costs range from 250 to 350 million. According to Mayor Petr Vokřál (ANO), construction could start in 2017. The city will try to obtain a subsidy.

Forty-one members out of the fifty-five-member council supported the memorandum. The hall could be built opposite the Faculty of Sports Studies of Masaryk University in the university campus. The city aims to help athletes with the construction. “In Brno, there are around 4,500 athletes from the youngest to the oldest category. These people have nowhere to train adequately during the winter and are looking for temporary spaces,” said Vokřál. Youth and senior athletic clubs from Brno are among the best in the Czech Republic.

According to the mayor, the hall would be utilized since both athletic and sports clubs would use it for training, as well as Masaryk University for teaching. “It would primarily serve athletes, but it would also fulfill a multifunctional role. Not everything would be there, but other sports could also be added to athletics,” said Vokřál. He added that the hall should meet the criteria for hosting competitions. “However, we do not have ambitions that it could serve, for example, for the championships,” Vokřál added.

He believes, however, that the project is in its early stages. A study will be created, and land issues in the campus will begin to be addressed. “By March, we would like to have the study completed so that we know what the hall will look like and how much it will cost exactly. Similar athletic halls cost more than a quarter of a billion crowns. Then we will process the project documentation, and if everything goes smoothly, construction could begin in 2017,” said the mayor.