Fully refurbished DUKLA Athletics Stadium Štiavničky, compliant with international standards, reopens to sports community
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- Date: 05.10.2021
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Starting from today onwards, sportsmen and women of the DUKLA Military Sports Centre Banská Bystrica can enjoy training at a newly refurbished athletics stadium. Thanks to the extensive refurbishment works worth €14.1m, the DUKLA Slovak National Uprising (SNP) Athletics Stadium Štiavničky is now fully compliant with all the stadium infrastructure standards and regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) and the Union of European Footfall Associations (UEFA) for a UEFA Category 3 stadium. Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď has handed the redesigned facility over to DUKLA sportspeople today.
Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “I'm immensely pleased that after all the toil and successes of the DUKLA Military Sports Centre sportsmen and women for Defence and the whole of Slovakia, in turn we can offer them better conditions for training in the form of a new athletics and football stadium.” The Athletics Stadium Štiavničky is also open to regional sports clubs. Interestingly, it will host the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) next year. “I hope sports fans will keep returning and taking home unforgettable sporting experiences,” he added.
Compared to the old stadium, the redesigned one has more track and field facilities. A newly built training ground was completed and handed over for use earlier this April. Importantly, the new football pitch with heated grass holds UEFA Category 3 stadium status. Also reconstructed were the stands, although they required more funding than originally planned. This was because the stadium's seating capacity increased from 4,000 to over 7,000, with 30 wheelchair viewing spaces for disabled visitors and accessible toilets.
Changes to the project were initiated by the current MOD leadership to make sure that the stadium would meet all the technical specifications for hosting international athletic events and football tournaments. “I insisted on making changes to the project, so that we could be competitive with other European countries in terms of the size of sporting events. However, the project designed by the SNS Party envisaged only 4,000 seats. Because this meant a seating capacity typical of a sports facility in a big village rather than in the regional capital city with such a rich history of sports as Banská Bystrica boasts, we made the case for more funds to be made available for the stadium. Our sportspeople and public deserve a stadium worthy of this century,” said Minister Naď.
According to the outgoing director of the DUKLA Military Sports Centre Banská Bystrica Lt Col Roman Benčík, the refurbishment project will improve the training conditions for the DUKLA sportspeople, especially for athletes. “It is not a matter of course that our sports attract such a great attention and support from our founding authority and for this I want to thank the Ministry of Defence on behalf of all sportsmen and women,” he said, adding that the project was funded by the MOD.
The contract for the refurbishment works to the stadium was put out to tender and was awarded to AŠ VŠC DUKLA Banská Bystrica, a group comprised of SPORT Construction JSC, ŠPORTFINAL LLC and Metrostav JSC. As part of the tender requirements, competitive bidders were asked to show their track record of previous athletics stadium construction projects of international importance. The refurbishment works were subject to the athletics stadium construction standards and regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) in an effort to build a stadium capable of hosting international athletic events.
The DUKLA SNP Athletics Stadium Štiavničky was officially opened on 22 August 1959 to mark the 15th SNP anniversary. 60 years on since its opening, the refurbishment works to the stadium were launched to coincide with the 75th SNP anniversary. The Athletics Stadium is owned by the Slovak Republic and is run by the DUKLA Military Sports Centre Banská Bystrica.
Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “I'm immensely pleased that after all the toil and successes of the DUKLA Military Sports Centre sportsmen and women for Defence and the whole of Slovakia, in turn we can offer them better conditions for training in the form of a new athletics and football stadium.” The Athletics Stadium Štiavničky is also open to regional sports clubs. Interestingly, it will host the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) next year. “I hope sports fans will keep returning and taking home unforgettable sporting experiences,” he added.
Compared to the old stadium, the redesigned one has more track and field facilities. A newly built training ground was completed and handed over for use earlier this April. Importantly, the new football pitch with heated grass holds UEFA Category 3 stadium status. Also reconstructed were the stands, although they required more funding than originally planned. This was because the stadium's seating capacity increased from 4,000 to over 7,000, with 30 wheelchair viewing spaces for disabled visitors and accessible toilets.
Changes to the project were initiated by the current MOD leadership to make sure that the stadium would meet all the technical specifications for hosting international athletic events and football tournaments. “I insisted on making changes to the project, so that we could be competitive with other European countries in terms of the size of sporting events. However, the project designed by the SNS Party envisaged only 4,000 seats. Because this meant a seating capacity typical of a sports facility in a big village rather than in the regional capital city with such a rich history of sports as Banská Bystrica boasts, we made the case for more funds to be made available for the stadium. Our sportspeople and public deserve a stadium worthy of this century,” said Minister Naď.
According to the outgoing director of the DUKLA Military Sports Centre Banská Bystrica Lt Col Roman Benčík, the refurbishment project will improve the training conditions for the DUKLA sportspeople, especially for athletes. “It is not a matter of course that our sports attract such a great attention and support from our founding authority and for this I want to thank the Ministry of Defence on behalf of all sportsmen and women,” he said, adding that the project was funded by the MOD.
The contract for the refurbishment works to the stadium was put out to tender and was awarded to AŠ VŠC DUKLA Banská Bystrica, a group comprised of SPORT Construction JSC, ŠPORTFINAL LLC and Metrostav JSC. As part of the tender requirements, competitive bidders were asked to show their track record of previous athletics stadium construction projects of international importance. The refurbishment works were subject to the athletics stadium construction standards and regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) in an effort to build a stadium capable of hosting international athletic events.
The DUKLA SNP Athletics Stadium Štiavničky was officially opened on 22 August 1959 to mark the 15th SNP anniversary. 60 years on since its opening, the refurbishment works to the stadium were launched to coincide with the 75th SNP anniversary. The Athletics Stadium is owned by the Slovak Republic and is run by the DUKLA Military Sports Centre Banská Bystrica.
