Olomouc, May 2, 2025 – We are changing the face of cities. Following today's decision by the Olomouc City Council, we are one step closer to providing Olomouc with a modern space for sports, culture, and public life. The Multifunctional Hall in Velkomoravská project is moving from the market consultation phase to the next stage. By approving the Memorandum of Cooperation with NOVÁ VELKOMORAVSKÁ a.s., the city council has enabled the continuation of preparations for a project that aims to fundamentally transform the city's sports and cultural infrastructure.
The council's decision is a welcome step forward for NOVÁ VELKOMORAVSKÁ a.s.Today's decision allows us to build on our work to date and, together with the city, prepare all the documentation for notification of public support to the European Commission, as well as a proposal for specific contractual relationships between the city and the investor," said Richard Morávek, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NOVÁ VELKOMORAVSKÁ a.s. and founder of the REDSTONE development group.
The proposed cooperation model represents an economically efficient solution—the construction of the hall would be carried out using funds from the private investor NOVÁ VELKOMORAVSKÁ a.s. and bank financing, while the city would begin to provide public support in the form of an investment subsidy only after the hall began operating, retroactively for individual fiscal years. The notification process with the European Commission is also a tool that will ensure the highest level of transparency and legal validity of the conditions set for the city.
The Multifunctional Hall project offers a solution to the long-standing unsatisfactory condition of the existing ice rink, but it will also give Olomouc a new boost – a place where top-class sport, culture, and the public will come together. „Today's step paves the way for a modern Olomouc that has the ambition to succeed in competition with other regional capitals. We have been striving to contribute to this goal with our projects for a long time, and I am convinced that we are a reliable and stable partner for the city's leadership. I believe that even those representatives who decided today not to support the continuation of the preparations for the multifunctional hall will be convinced in the future that this is indeed a very high-quality project that will bring Olomouc not only modern infrastructure but also long-term public benefits in the areas of sports, culture, and urban development," adds Morávek.
The multifunctional hall, with a capacity of 7,500 seats for hockey games and up to 9,500 seats for cultural events, will provide facilities for top-level sports, international cultural productions, and public events. It will become the new home of the HC Olomouc hockey club and offer conditions that correspond to the 21st century. The project also includes the construction of additional sports facilities and parking infrastructure, which will also be partially open to the public.
The next steps will now include the preparation of contracts, the start of the notification process with the European Commission, and the final adjustment of the parameters of cooperation with the city. The preparation of key documents is scheduled for spring next year; the notification process with the European Commission itself may then take approximately another 12 months. If the will to continue with the project persists, it would be possible to start construction in the first half of the next election period.
