It is not clear yet what the capacity of the stadium will be. Just to remind you, one of the reasons why the stadium should be built is that sometimes up to one hundred thousand supporters would like to get a ticket for lucrative representation duels.
It is obvious that no one in Prague would agree to build a stadium with such a gigant auditorium, comparable only to Brazilian Maracana. Still, at first it was talked about half of the number, i.e. an auditorium with the capacity of fifty thousand spectators. Some sources even stated that the capacity would be fifty five thousand. But this seems to be no longer true. The latest data talks about the capacity of fourty thousand or rather thirty five thousand spectators.
As we have said before, since the beginning of the project and the process of selection of it there have been debates over the dimensional and user parametres of the stadium in relation to the amount of investment expenses and the ability to ensure the economic return of its operation. The capacity of the stadium is indeed an important factor, there are, however, dozens of other important factors as well. Together, the stadium has to form a functional and balanced whole which meets all the technical, operating and financial criteria.
And what should the National Football Stadium ideally look like taking into consideration, that up to fifty events are planned to take place there in a year,(not only sports events but also social and cultural ones).
" It should fit into Kaplicky futuristic conception of the National Library and the capacity should be fourty thousand places,“ said Vlastimil Kostal, who was convinced that the construction will only affect the present Sparta Stadium itself. He developed the idea, when he was saying that the alpha and omega of every project of a similar size is the financing. Since it cannot be counted on the one milliard CZK that was promised by former Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, it seems that most of the expenses will be covered from private sources. On the other hand the stadium would also be used in case Prague is selected the host city of the Olympic Games.
"We are a part of the project Prague Olympic. We have assigned analysis which should answer all the key questions – i.e. transport, environment, light and sound emissions and so forth. The answers will be ready in autumn and we will start to bind individual persons and entities to the financing. We know that the financing of the project is viable, as with most projects it will be financed from both public and private sources. In this case, the majority of the sources will be private,“ stated the deputy head of the football federation last year.
What is the opinion of architects?
The idea is that Sparta’s present stands will be pulled down and a completely new arena will be built in an area which will be twice as big as the present one. This arena would have the capacity of those forty thousand spectators.
Last year, the media brought information that since last July, a so called study on feasibility by AG Studio and signed by Ludek Stefka is to be found at the section of development and territorial resolutions of the city district Prague 7. “ It is not possible to say, what it will look like in the end, because the project is at its beginning. The study had only one aim: to find out under which conditions it would be possible to build the stadium in Letna. Everything can be modified, we are discussing the question of the capacity of the stadium again,“ the architect told the media.
Another piece of interesting information appeared that at the time. It said that it was the company Akcent dealing with the management of real extates and operating an amusement complex in Zenske domovy in Smichov, which was in charge of all the negotiations with authorities and all the engineering. “ The project is feasible, the Sparta Stadium is in critical condition and it has to be rebuilt. We want the stands to take up an additional ten to fifteen thousand spectators, that is why we would like to put the bottom terrace ten metres underground,“ says according to these sources director Josef Stastny, who was until 1993 the deputy manager of Metrostav. He did not want to talk about detail either. „ It is certain, that the City Ghall wants the Olympic football stadium in Letna and its capacity has to be at least thirty thousand.“ The Letna Stadium therefore will change its axes and the new construction will take up the adjacent training area.
There was information that might reveal at least something about the future appearance of the stadium. It appeared as marginal information in one of the interviews with the manager of the Czech football representation. Vlastimil Kostal answered one of the questions as follows: “ I am in favour of a stadium with the possibility to be roofed, as we know it from Gelsenkirchen, which is our model. We cannot attain the same capacity as Gelsenkirchen, but from the point of view of infrastructure, the two stadiums are comparable. I believe that roofing is the right thing.“ So at least we have learnt that much.
While we do not know much about the future form of the stadium, the changes to the neighbourhood can be more easily traced down. A big problem is how to ensure transport and parking in the vicinity of the stadium. At present, there are already some forty thousand vehicles driving along Milada Horakova Street. It can be assumed that a huge crossroads will be built together with the mouth of the new tunnel which is already being built. A five-storey underground car park for eight hundred cars has been spoken about. It should be built opposite the stands..
Traffic is also one of the main concerns of Prague 7’s statement to the above mentioned study of feasibility. The present project of the AG Studio counts on 2048 parking spaces. Their idea is that 870 out of the total number would be beyond the borders of the area of Sparta and 300 parking spaces would be reserved in the adjacent underground garages, which Prague 7 City Hall is building for its residents. „ The department of transport does not agree with the construction of the National Football Stadium,“ says the verdict which is backed up by the statement of the department of the environment which does not like, amongst others, the excessive noise that the National Football Stadium would mean, the emissions and the increase in the built-up area at the expense of greenery“.
The leaders of the Town Hall are, however, less uncompromising. They comment on a project which is much more modest than the original plans. The council demands that the football federation cut down the capacity of the stadium, improves anti-terrorist measures and reject the plan to bridge Milada Horakova Street. „ we can accept the project under the condition that the traffic will be dealt with in their own land,“ further says Prague 7 Council’s resolution from 2nd Octobre 2007. „ Football has been and will be in Letna and it is true that the present stadium is in a bad condition. We already had to make an exception for this year’s season. The modifications that were carried out fifteen years ago were very „ cosmetic,“ the mayor of Prague 7 told the media last year.
Prague 7 has other reservations for the projects as well. Apart from the unsolved question of parking they object to the fact that the nearest metro station Hradcanska cannot take the doubled number of its present passanger number. The project of the stadium, has therefore been sent back to be completed.
At present the stadium has three versions for thirty to forty thousand people. The one which is the most likely to be implemented is the middle one with the capacity of thirty five thousand spectators. According to this variant, the stadium would be an annex to the existing arena. The ground plan of the stadium would remain almost the same, but the stands would be extended,“ Pavel Mokry, the head of the Czech-Moravian Football Federation described so far the latest version.
If this is true, then it can be talked about an extension of Sparta Stadium rather than its restructuring.