Kopaonik to get new garage and heliport by next skiing season – Value of investment around EUR 3 million

It often happens in the midst of a tourist season that parking becomes a big issue in Kopaonik, especially if one wants to park somewhere in the center. Parking spaces are often buried under snow, and areas in front of hotels are crowded.

The most renowned Serbian skiing center currently has 12 garages and a total of 1,200 parking spaces.

This will change in the new skiing season as the Ski Resorts of Serbia are planning to build a garage with a minimum of 200 parking spaces and the Army Center in Kopaonik. Aside from the garage, the Ski Resorts are planning to raise a heliport within the project as well.

The preparation of the technical documentation (preliminary design in three variants; preliminary project with a feasibility study and proposal of charging system; main project; construction project; as-built documentation), as well as the construction of the garage and the heliport at the Kopaonik Ski Center, have been put in charge of the consortium of M Enterijer Gradnja from Belgrade, Masinoprojekt Kopring Belgrade, Jadran Belgrade and Neo Aerodromes Engineering.

The decision on awarding the contract was reached in late April, and the possession of site is expected to take place soon.

The exact date of the beginning of the construction, as the Ski Resorts say, is not yet known, but is expected to take place before the summer begins, so that the garage would be operational by the skiing season. The value of the investment is RSD 387 million, including the VAT (around EUR 3.1 million), and the project is financed from the funds of the Ski Resorts of Serbia and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications.

The location of the Army Center has been selected as it complies with the minimal technical requirements for developing, marking and maintaining a skiing area, since the regulations say that the parking lot needs to be placed in close proximity to the entrance to the skiing area (up to 500 m), our interviewees explain.

Multi-story garage

The planned garage should have a minimum of 200 parking spaces distributed across several stories, including the roof, which should also include a protective fence, which will fit into the exterior.

There will be a possibility of adding another parking story and mounting a light canopy, the construction of which is not subject to the procurement, over the top elevation. The extension would increase the capacity of the garage by at least 100 parking spaces.

A sufficient number of spaces for persons with disabilities and reduced mobility on the bottom level has also been planned.

As stated in the tender documentation, the garage will feature a ramp de-icing system. Furthermore, the garage is planned to feature infrastructural elements such as hardware equipment, communication link and software, which are to secure efficient management of available parking space, entrance and exit control, on-spot charging, remote charging, reservation of parking spaces and monitoring occupancy. The systems and the installed equipment need to meet the requirements of working in low temperatures and support mobile apps.

The garage will also feature a self-service car-wash facility, capable of servicing two vehicles simultaneously. The charging will be automated and the facility will not feature an operator.

Heliport

The heliport with an access route will be able to accommodate MI-17 helicopters. The accompanying access points, the necessary installations and equipment storage containers will meet all the requirements needed for connecting it to the air traffic system organized by SMATSA, in line with the Air Transport Law, the regulations of conditions and procedure for authorization of airport, and heliport usage, local and foreign standards and the prescribed practice for this type of facility and other technical regulations.

The project also concerns the access routes in close proximity to the garage and the heliport – regulating and controlling traffic, defining special transport regime zones, defining stationary transport by user categories and installing the necessary horizontal and vertical signaling.

As for other new features in Kopaonik, the Ski Resorts of Serbia announce that they are planning to build a new track at Krcmar, to install lighting at the Karaman Greben track for the purpose of night-time skiing, as well as to install lighting at the bobsled track.

S.S.