The completion of the Šutka swimming complex should begin in the autumn

Prague - The completion of the unfinished swimming complex Šutka in Prague's Troja should begin this autumn. A zoning decision is expected to be made in mid-February. In June, the city hall will announce a tender for the contractor. The construction, which started during socialism and then halted, should be finished by the end of 2010. The costs are estimated at 350 million crowns. This information was provided by the Prague city hall.
    Work on the fifty-meter indoor pool, a seating area for four hundred people, and a children's teaching pool is expected to take a year. "We want to conceive the complex not only as a sports facility but also as a relaxation and entertainment center. There will be slides and chutes, a lazy river, a wading pool for children, saunas, a gym, a fitness room, solariums, massages, and of course, a restaurant," stated Pavel Klega, Deputy Mayor of Prague.
    If the city has sufficient funds, according to Klega, construction could seamlessly continue with the building of an adjacent outdoor pool. "We would like to utilize the uneven surrounding land and connect it with the indoor pool. In the summer months, Prague residents could use, for example, a diving pool or a pool for non-swimmers. There will be a thousand locker spaces, refreshments, and a large parking lot," he explained.
    In connection with the pool construction, a project to modify the intersection at Čimická Street also had to be developed. The expected increase in the number of cars would not be manageable; the intersection, which will not have traffic lights, should be expanded by one turning lane.
    The city also anticipates that if Prague wins the bid to host the Olympic Games, Šutka would become the main Olympic center for water sports. The indoor pool area would only need to be adapted for the facilities of athletes, organizers, and journalists. The outdoor area would need to be temporarily covered and equipped with, for example, stands.
    The construction of the pool began in 1987 and has so far cost over 100 million crowns. It was halted several times due to a lack of funds. The last time was in 1996, but then because of the restitution of certain plots of land. The city bought the plots five years later for 30 million crowns. After several unsuccessful tenders, the city hall decided five years ago to finish the complex from its own resources. However, this intention was thwarted by floods in August 2002. Prague needed the money for damage removal.
    "Even though it may seem to some that not much is happening with the complex so far, we are trying to expedite the start of construction as much as possible. The first important step was the approval of the environmental impact study at the end of January this year," Klega stated.