Construction of Aqua park in Novi Sad due in March 2014- EUR 10 million complex to comprise ethno village, wellness center and summer stage

(Illustration)

For Novi Sad, next year should be a serious crossroads. Believe it or not, with the first spring days, at the area between Detelinara and Novo Naselje, towards the Bulevar Evrope St., the construction of aqua park will start.

- The start of the Aqua Center construction, with an aqua park, a wellness and a spa center, should start March 15, 2014 – Dragan Lukac, a General Manager of the Novi Sad Fair, says for eKapija,

- The area where the Aqua Center would be built has not been used for three decades. It is a part of the fair area between Novo naselje and Detelinara, along the Bulevar Evrope. The complex will occupy some 35.000 square meters – Lukac is explaining for our portal.

The project task has been completed and the preliminary design will be finished by November 15. We will find out then how Novi Sad-based aqua empire will look like.

- The project will be implemented in five stages. The first stage will include the construction of the business building, Mini master, on some 5000 square meters. The second stage implies an outdoor swimming pool with additional facilities while the third one implies an ethno village around the existing lake. The fourth stage implies the construction of a wellness and a spa center with saunas and additional facilities and arena- a summer stage with 500-600 seats and outlets in the ground floor which would be in function of fair events will be built in the fifth stage. As I have said, we expect the works to start in March but it will depend of tempo of obtaining necessary permits – Lukac explains.

(Dragan Lukac)

The capacity of the future aqua center will be 150.000 - 200.000 visitors per season. After they finish the preliminary project, they will have accurate data, as the General Manager of the Novi Sad Fair says.

The construction of aqua park and other fun and tourist facilities is a part of the program of expansion and development of Novi Sad fair activities, i.e. expansion to other fields apart from fairs and exhibits. This way, Novi Sad citizens are planning to improve business.

We asked our collocutor why they opted for the construction of the Aqua park and not for some other facilities.

- We think that Aqua center, which would comprise an arena and an ethno village, would be the right place which Novi Sad people as well as citizens of the entire Serbia will use for relaxation. We believe that it is a good idea to build this kind of complex here and to put this part of Novi Sad fair into operations because there facilities will practically fulfill period between May and October when fair events are not held – GM of the Novi Sad fair explains.

The complex construction is in line with the General urban plan of Novi Sad for social facilities.

Are there funds?

(preliminary designs will show how many water slides this aqua park will have)

The preliminary analysis showed, as we found out, this project is more than EUR 10 mil worth. The management of the Novi Sad Fair has not made the final decision whether they will fund the investment on their own, through loans or through business partnership where there is already and interest.

However, it is a question whether this project will be remunerative, having in mind the economic crisis and whether citizens of Novi Sad will have funds for these facilities?

- The project task showed that the investment is fully profitable and since citizens of Novi Sad, Vojvodina and entire Serbia do not have this kind of facilities, we believe that Aqua center at the Novi Sad fair will be fully-exploited – the General Manager of the Novi Sad Fair thinks.

M.S.