EUR 15 million required for sports arena in Nis - Construction of Car Konstantin multi-use facility more and more likely to happen

(future look of the arena as designed by Stabiloprojekt)

The City of Nis is on a good way to soon get a spectacular sports arena on the left bank of the Nisava River, Car Konstantin, which has been awaited for several years now. Branislav Jovanovic, executive director of the City Development Directorate, has recently announced that the work on the Duvaniste site, where that arena should be built, is expected to start as early as the next construction season.

All the obstacles hindering the construction of that arena in the previous years should be overcome in the shortest time possible. As Dragan Videnovic from the City Development Directorate explained to our web portal, it is very important that all property relations have been resolved and that the land is ready for use. Also, all zoning requirements are met, so getting a building permit won't be a problem.

The state is expected to back the construction of Car Konstantin arena, so that the question of funding should also be resolved soon.

- Talks between Nis representatives and government authorities are underway. We expect the project to be implemented through the Program of Support to the Construction Industry in Times of Crisis, in the same way as Nis-based Cair football stadium is being built. There are good reasons for us to believe that the state will back us up, and we expect the work to commence during this year - Videnovic says to eKapija.

He stresses that city authorities have agreed to the implementation of this project because everybody's aware of its importance for athletes, as well as for the entire city on the Nisava.

According to Director Branislav Jovanovic, the facility should have stands that seat about 10,000 people, and it would be suitable for all kinds of sports events. It is implied by the project that Car Konstantin arena will also host trade fairs and similar events in addition to sports ones.

That is of great significance, given that Nis lacks space for both types of events. Indoor sports events were mainly organized at Cair arena that also hosted book fairs, hunting shows, tourist events, etc., which often led to a problem.

Enough room for everything

As Dragan Videnovic told eKapija, aside from the designs made by Stabiloprojekt, there are also another designs by which the arena's capacity would be somewhat reduced - to 6-8 thousand spectators.

(Stabiloprojekt's idea)

- Since negotiations are still underway, it has not been definitely decided yet which designs to use to build the arena, and that mainly depends on the funding that we manage to provide. It seems at this moment that the bigger arena designs are more likely to be chosen.

According to our interlocutor, construction deadlines will depend on how quickly the funding is provided. As he says, a good thing is that this project could engage local construction workers.

As Director Jovanovic announced, implementation of this project will be one of the city's priorities by 2016.

As it was announced earlier, Car Konstantin arena should cost about EUR 15 million, but its final price will be known once everything is settled. The plan is also to open a shopping center and restaurants within the complex, as well as to build a state-of-the-art garage as part of it.

M.S.