Kraljevo gets sports arena in autumn 2013 - Construction of indoor swimming pool and mini aqua park within Ribnica-based complex in the pipeline

(future look of the sports arena)

Although athletes from Kraljevo are no less successful than those from any other place in Serbia, this city has been waiting for almost four decades to get a real sports arena. However, a good news for this city on the Ibar River came last year. Construction of an arena with about 3,500 seats commenced last summer in the Ribnica neighborhood.

As Director of the Kraljevo Development Directorate Nenad Neric told eKapija, the first matches on the new court are expected to be played next September.

The existing sports arena in Kraljevo is over 35 years old, and it ceased to meet standards for many sports a long time ago. Therefore, athletes as well as all people living in Kraljevo were very happy to hear that aforementioned project was launched. Although some of them are impatient because the construction is running behind the original schedule (as announced earlier, due to bad weather and delays in the preparation of documentation), people at the Directorate say that there is no reason to worry. Contractors – a consortium of companies Amiga, YU Keops, Valve profil, Gradjevinar Kocic and Hidrokop, are working at full steam.

- The exterior of this facility is already finished, and interior works are now underway - electrical installations, heating, floors... Once all that is completed, workers will move on to the construction of stairs and the work on the area around the arena – says Nenad Neric.

This sports arena, intended for handball, basketball, volleyball and other indoor sports, will feature stands that can hold about 3,000 spectators and prefabricated stands for another 500 people. There will also be 14 seats for people with special needs. The projected surface of the arena with all accompanying facilities is 7,350 square meters.

The parcel where the arena is being built spans about 5.4 hectares, so that there will be enough space for a parking lot and accompanying facilities. The plan for the future is to also build an indoor swimming pool within this complex in Ribnica.

Construction of the Kraljevo sports arena was launched as part of the support program to the Serbian construction industry, which is why it was agreed that the funding be provided from the city budget and the republic budget, with each contributing 50 percent of the required funds.

Initial announcements were that the project would cost about RSD 620 million, but the plans have changed partially.

About RSD 450 million of the planned costs have already been covered, but there have also been some unexpected costs in the amount of RSD 70 million, says Neric.

- Approximately RSD 340 million are required to complete all the works. The total value of this project should reach between 800 and 850 million dinars. By the way, the price of an arena with a similar capacity ranges between 7 and 8 million euros, and the arena in Ribnica perfectly fits in these standards.

Our interlocutor also explains that about RSD 200 million of the missing amount for project completion have already been earmarked in Kraljevo's budget for 2013.

- We expect to get the rest from the republic, and we believe that it won't be an issue.

The arena will most probably be functional as of early autumn 2013, after which its surroundings will be on schedule.

(building site)

The project was designed by Belgrade-based Archi Monde.

Swimming pool outside downtown Kraljevo

It was announced earlier that a swimming pool would be built in the very center of Kraljevo, in the vicinity of the Gradska Terasa site, but that idea has been given up. As our interlocutor explains, the reason for that is the fact that the previous location is extremely demanding and much more expensive. On the other hand, Ribnica is set to be a new sports zone mainly because there is much more space in this location and because it is more functional.

Once the design of this project is completed, we will know the exact price of the indoor swimming pool. According to some earlier estimates, it may cost about RSD 350 million.

The pool complex would comprise an Olympic swimming pool (33x25 meters) two meters deep, small swimming pool for non-swimmers and locker rooms. There will also be stands for about 300 spectators.

In addition to the sports arena and the indoor swimming pool, this complex in Ribnica should also feature a small aqua park.

At the moment, Kraljevo has only one outdoor swimming pool.

M.S.