Brno - Brno is looking for a company to demolish the dilapidated Za Lužánkami stadium. The opening of the procurement procedure was approved by the city council today. The estimated cost is 165 million crowns excluding VAT, said sports councilor Tomáš Aberl (TOP 09) to reporters. The work is expected to start in October and last for several months. The city will then allow the area to be grassed over and made accessible. More about the future use of the Ponava area, where the stadium is located, will be revealed by a land-use study emerging from the competitive dialogue. It could be completed in 2026.
The demolition of the stadium, where Zbrojovka Brno won its only title years ago, has been discussed since the beginning of 2023 due to its poor condition. The necessity to demolish the football complex was confirmed by a survey from experts at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Brno University of Technology. Since then, the city has been preparing the planned demolition for this year.
"We want to start the work in October; due to the nesting of swallows, we cannot begin sooner," said Aberl. The city will have the grandstand structures demolished. "We will remove dangerous materials, but most will stay on site. Of course, interested parties will be able to acquire some artifacts. Subsequently, we will grass everything over, and it will be an open space. We will also build nesting boxes for swallows there," he added.
The stadium was built from 1949 to 1953. In the 60s and 70s, a new grandstand was constructed, increasing the capacity to 50,000 spectators. In October 1996, 44,120 spectators attended the match Brno - Slavia. The last league match was played there in September 2001. Since then, the stadium has been deteriorating. In 2015, it came to life thanks to the farewell of footballer Petr Švancara from his career, with nearly 35,000 spectators attending the exhibition match. In 2019, a crew filmed a movie about the legendary runner Emil Zátopek at the stadium.