Cacak to get indoor swimming pool - Preparations for building EUR 5.5 million complex begin, construction of small aqua park and renovation of athletics track in the pipeline

(preliminary design of an indoor swimming pool complex in Cacak)

Construction season in Cacak has commenced with the work on sports facilities. Works have resumed on the Borca football stadium, and preparations have started for the construction of an indoor swimming pool complex that the citizens of Cacak have been awaiting for as many as two decades.

This pool complex spanning about 5,600 square meters will comprise two indoor swimming pools - a large one (32x36 meters) and a small one, and it will be built next to a levee, on the training pitch of the Borca stadium. Land survey is now underway.

Ostoja Mijailovic, a member of the City Council of Cacak, explains to eKapija that they are actively working to collect documents required for a location permit. Almost everything is already done, and the only thing yet to do is to get the consent from Srbijagas to connect to the gas network.

- We will have a meeting with Srbijagas representatives next week. Project designs, which are being prepared by CIP, are 80 percent completed, and we expect them to be completely finished within the next twenty days or so - Mijailovic says to our web portal.

Our interlocutor explains that the original plan was to build an Olympic swimming pool within a complex spanning about 8,000 square meters. However, this idea did not fit in the future investor's budget, which is why the project has been changed and complex dimensions have been reduced.

- The value of the initial project to build an Olympic swimming pool was estimated at approximately EUR 8 million. With the reduced dimensions, the latest estimated value of the project is about EUR 5.5 million – says Mijailovic.

Work on the designs is financed by the Ministry of Construction and Town Planning, whereas the project funding should be provided by a donor. It was earlier speculated that it could be Azerbaijan.

- The city is obligated to provide a location permit and submit it together with the fully completed designs to the Ministry. Construction work is expected to commence this year – says Mijailovic.

The indoor pool complex should also feature various additional amenities, small aqua park as well as playrooms for children. Also, it will be possible to add certain facilities in the future if and when needed.

New athletics track

Aside from the swimming pool complex, Cacak officials have also announced other investments in the field of sports and recreation. Namely, it was announced in late March that the 40-year-old athletics track could be either reconstructed or completely replaced with a new one.

Ana Todoric from the Athletics Federation of Serbia says to eKapija that the Ministry of Sports has a plan to finance the reconstruction of athletics tracks across Serbia within the next four years, adding that aforementioned project could also be among them.

(location of the future pool complex)

It should be known soon if the track will only be renovated or replaced with a brand new one. There is a possibility of us getting an aid in Tartan tracks from European institutions, and we could later also consider building an athletics stadium, said the local self-government.

Cacak Deputy Mayor Radenko Lukovic then told the local media that the city of Cacak had not earmarked funds in the 2013 budget for the construction of an athletics track, but he noted that certain funds for that purpose could be set aside in the revised budget.

The athletics track in Cacak, built in 1973, was covered with Tartan, the trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane, back in 1986 and was one of the best tracks in Yugoslavia at the time .

Cacak Mayor Vojislav Ilic announced few days ago that the city had finished a public procurement procedure for the construction of a new building for the local music school, adding that the development of a new wing of student dormitory in that city would kick off June 2013.

M.S.