The square is a round thing: New Ernst Abbe Stadium presented in Jena

The presentation of the coordinated design for the new Ernst Abbe Stadium attracted a great deal of media attention on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. Representatives of the city of Jena, the stadium operator EAS Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, the investors and FC Carl Zeiss Jena as the future main user were enthusiastic about the final design. A new prestigious attraction for the citizens of Jena is being created in the heart of paradise, which will also be the new home of soccer.

With a spectator capacity of 15,100 seats, perfect DFL-compliant conditions will be created for all matches. In terms of construction, a homogeneous, modern stadium complex will be created while retaining the west stand (current main stand). Visitors to the stadium can expect a distinctive stadium complex under the Kernberge. There is no need to shy away from comparisons with modern arenas. Events at the highest level will be possible here. Training conditions will also improve. The newly laid artificial turf pitch will simplify procedures, especially in bad weather.

Despite all the innovations, the club's tradition will not be forgotten: the preservation of the west stand and the historic T-building, as well as the Zeiss Lens, will be an essential part of the ensemble.

The complex will be rounded off with 800 VIP seats, 8 boxes for 110 people, 370 new parking spaces, a functional building in the east stand with a total area of approx. 5,500 m² for events for up to 800 people and a new youth training center with an area of approx. 800 m² and an additional fitness and rest area of the same size to improve the work of young talent. This doubles the area for young talent. The future Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld will cover a total area of approx. 10 hectares. By operating a permanent catering facility, the stadium will become a new meeting place outside of home matches.

The stadium construction will also bring further improvements. For example, the area has a significantly improved flood protection situation. The working conditions of the police, fire department and emergency services will also be improved thanks to optimized set-up areas, dedicated workspaces and technically supported fan support.

Women's soccer will also benefit from an office and dressing room situation integrated into the stadium, as well as more flexible use of the venues, including the amateur stadium with the corresponding adjacent infrastructure in the T-building.

Events can be better marketed thanks to the newly designed athletics facility with integrated streaming options. This facility also offers advantages to SV Schott and the children's sports school integrated there. This also applies to the sports high school, which can optimize its training situation thanks to the proximity of the new facility and the upgraded infrastructure in the FCC e.V. youth training center.

University sport will receive a new boost thanks to the upgrading of the Wöllnitzer Straße site. And finally, grassroots sport in Jena will of course also benefit from the improvements in the surrounding area. One example of this is the prospective use of the stadium perimeter for annual events such as the Paradise Triathlon or running and cycling events.

Statements:

Mayor of Jena Thomas Nitzsche
"The new Ernst Abbe Stadium will be a stadium for the whole of Jena and can be used for a wide variety of purposes. I am convinced that the innovative award model - planning, construction, operation and financing come from a single source - will ensure the long-term economic success of the stadium and that the city will benefit from it in many ways."

Mayor Christian Gerlitz
"The new Ernst Abbe Stadium is one of a large number of urban development projects that will have a lasting impact on Jena's urban development in the coming years and send a signal far beyond Thuringia: Jena as a city with the best infrastructure for sport, for citizens, for guests and business partners. However, it is also important to me that the Oberaue nature reserve is treated sensitively. The sustainable approach of the entire project is also clear from the innovative energy concept."

Head of Sports Benjamin Koppe
"The redesigned area and the athletics facility created in this context on Wöllnitzer Straße are another important building block in the ongoing development of the city's sports infrastructure. The new soccer stadium will become an important meeting place in the heart of Paradiespark thanks to its versatile usability not only for sport, but also for various event formats and gastronomy. I would particularly like to thank the investors for their commitment."

Lars Eberlein
"The Sparkassen Arena was opened at the beginning of 2014. A key component of the financing at the time was third-party marketing with events outside of sport. It's the same now with the stadium. We want to use our experience to make the right decisions right from the start and avoid initial mistakes. We have a clear marketing vision for the stadium and the arena. We are convinced that we will succeed in operating the stadium profitably. And in the end, the FCC can also be relieved of some of the burden. There have been enough negative examples of other clubs in recent years that we must avoid at all costs."

Andreas Kuhn
Managing Director of EAS Betriebsgesellschaft mbH
"With the construction of the new stadium and the redesign of the area, the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld is undergoing a realignment to become a modern sports and event venue. Important tasks and new functionalities have been taken into account in the planning. The new stadium as the home ground of FC Carl-Zeiss Jena will be a modern arena with just over 15,000 seats, where all soccer fans will feel at home and families will also find their place. The new functional building with a total usable area of approx. 5,000 m² also offers many new opportunities for the city of Jena, providing space for a wide range of private and public events.

The aim was also to preserve historical features. Thanks to the efforts of general planner IBA, the old T-building with the tower, the Zeiss lens and the clock will be retained and, with the new fan museum and the relocation of the fan store to the redesigned premises, will become a new point of contact for fans. Parts of the old natural stone wall that form the entrance to the current Marathon Gate will also find a new home on the stadium site. The aim of the entire EAS Betriebsgesellschaft team is to turn the Ernst Abbe Sports Field into a modern meeting place for young and old."

Klaus Berka
President FC Carl-Zeiss Jena
"With the start of construction for the new stadium, a long-awaited dream has come true for all soccer fans and sports enthusiasts. It has been a long journey, for which many people have fought and had to overcome a number of hurdles. But it was worth it. In addition to the dramatically improved sporting conditions, our stadium will also experience an upswing in its entire infrastructure, from children's and youth soccer for girls and boys to professional soccer for our women and men. FC Carl Zeiss Jena is very grateful for this. We would like to give back some of the trust placed in us for this great investment by achieving sporting success and creating a family-friendly environment."

Chris Förster
Managing Director of FC Carl Zeiss Jena Fußball Spielbetriebs GmbH
"The construction of the new stadium in Jena is a project that many of Jena's soccer fans no longer thought possible for a long time. Now the time has finally come for the people who love soccer to have a venue that meets today's modern requirements and will also be an urban development milestone that will certainly not only please the die-hard FCC fans. It will also provide us with urgently needed marketing opportunities, which are of vital importance for the financing of professional soccer. We are looking forward to the new stadium and naturally also feel obliged to do justice to the infrastructural advance in sporting terms, whereby the expected soccer atmosphere in this cramped jewel box will certainly also help us. In addition, the close proximity of the professional and youth sections as well as the men's and women's sections will bring us even closer together as a club, creating synergies that will help us in our sporting and economic development."

Further construction progress:

The building permit documents will now be submitted. The construction of the stadium will be realized with these milestones:

1. demolition of the north stand Q4/2020

2. construction of the north stand Q2/2021

3. construction of artificial turf Q2/2021

4. demolition of east stand Q4/2021

5. expansion of east stand Q3/2022

6. demolition of south stand Q4/2022

7. completion of stadium Q3/2023