Construction of first indoor Olympic swimming pool commenced in Kragujevac

(Veroljub Stevanovic, Snezana Samardzic Markovic)

Minister of Youth and Sport Snezana Samardzic Markovic and Kragujevac Mayor Veroljub Stevanovic laid a foundation stone for the construction of the first indoor Olympic swimming pool in the capital city of Sumadija on December 21. A swimming pool at 5,643 square meters will be built within the existing indoor swimming pool complex.

The estimated value of the indoor swimming pool is about 364 million dinars, while the investment will be jointly implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the City of Kragujevac. Contractors are Deneza M Engineering and Projektmontaza Beograd, and all works should be completed in 10 months.

The new swimming pool will comprise a cellar, ground floor and first floor. Technical premises will be situated in the cellar, the entrance, locker rooms, bathrooms and the Olympic swimming pool (50mx25mx2.1m) will be on the ground floor, while the stands for about 300 spectators, a cafe restaurant and a press box are planned to be situated on the first floor.

- This is an opportunity for as many kids as possible to learn to swim, which was the subject of the feasibility study for the construction of one such facility - said Minister of Sport Snezana Markovic.

She also added that the construction of the indoor swimming pool will significantly benefit sports clubs because it will create an opportunity for development of various sports - swimming, water polo...

Kragujevac Mayor Veroljub Stevanovic announced that Kragujevac would soon get artificial grass on the football field next to the city stadium, as well as another stadium for American football.

- We are going to have few more sports halls built in schools during 2011 and 2012. In that way, all projects in the domain of sports infrastructure will be completed, which is a rarity in Serbia - said Stevanovic.