The new stadium in paradise is coming

On Wednesday evening, Jena City Council awarded the contract for the "conversion of the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld into a DFL-compatible stadium". The consortium consisting of ELEX (Roland Duchâtelet) and Jena-based companies under the leadership of Jenarena GmbH ultimately prevailed in the complex Europe-wide award procedure that has been running since January 2018. The Jenarena GmbH / ELEX consortium is now required to implement the concept presented.

We are delighted that this major project has cleared the final hurdle today before its implementation

said Lord Mayor Thomas Nitzsche after the non-public city council meeting.

The maximum amounts for the annual municipal subsidy defined by the city council with the tender documents could be undercut. In addition, the submitted design was also the favorite of the Jena Architectural Advisory Board - a council of experienced architects that advises the city on key decisions.

Renovation work on the stadium is scheduled to begin in 2020, with completion planned for 2023. As construction work will be carried out in stages during ongoing match operations, the conditions in the stadium will gradually improve even before 2023.

With the award decision, the decisive condition for the construction of the new athletics facility on the grounds of the Institute of Sports Science in Wöllnitzer Straße has also been fulfilled. This means that the traffic light is also "green" here. Construction will begin next year as soon as the funding decision from the state is available.

Mayor Nitzsche expressed his relief at the city council's decision:

'A six-year process has now come to a good end. Special thanks go to the team around Martin Berger. They have managed to design a stadium for Jena that will inspire the fans, take the soccer experience to a new level and keep within a clearly defined financial framework.

The background

Financial impact

The upper limit defined by the city council for the average annual subsidy of € 1.75 million per year was undercut by € 1.71 million.
The total investment - including the athletics facility and infrastructure - amounts to € 48.8 million instead of the originally expected € 52 million.
Financial security instruments were established to protect the city from additional burdens in the event that the new stadium operating company gets into financial difficulties. These include assignments, guarantees and additional funding obligations on the part of the private consortium.
As a co-shareholder of the operating company, the city is involved in all processes of the GmbH. Many important decisions in the company, including the confirmation of the business plan and annual financial statements, must be made unanimously.

Structural effects

A homogeneous stadium complex will be created while retaining the west stand (current main stand) and adopting its architectural concept.
Parts of the T-building (youth training center and groundsman's area) will be retained and modernized.
The area has a significantly improved flood protection situation.

Safety aspects

The conditions for the police/fire brigade and emergency services will improve significantly. This is achieved through optimized set-up areas, improved workspaces, better fan separation, technically supported infrastructure such as card scanners and video technology and optimized path systems and access roads, e.g. the new south access road.

Improvements for the Jena sports landscape

FF USV benefits from an office and dressing room situation integrated into the stadium, as well as the flexible use of the amateur stadium with the corresponding adjacent infrastructure in the T-building in the event of relegation.
SV Schott also benefits from an appropriate cabin situation at pitch 3 and the children's sports school integrated into the new athletics facility.
The sports high school benefits from an improved training situation and proximity to the new athletics facility on Wöllnitzer Straße, as well as from the improved conditions at the FCC e. V. youth training center.
Athletics will benefit from an independent facility with integrated event streaming options for better marketing of its own events.
Friedrich Schiller University Jena will benefit from the upgrading of the Wöllnitzer Straße site and thus significantly improved conditions for teaching and university sports.
Popular sports in Jena will benefit from the improvements in the design of the surrounding area and the quality of the area - the Paradise Triathlon is just one example.