Comprehensive Sports and Health Centre Project

The OMEGA Centre forms an integral part of the Sports and Health Centre project, based on a long-term collaboration between the construction company GEMO OLOMOUC, spol s r.o. and the design studio STUDIO PRAK s.r.o. It originated in urban and architectural terms in spring 2006 and from the start it was clear that it would have to be implemented gradually, in several (four) stages.

As the entire project was designed in the site of the former Spartakiádní Stadium in Olomouc, which is owned by the citizens’ association OLOMOUC SIGMA, the layout and division of the future complex between football and tennis had to be agreed with the SIGMA football club. The result is a new look for the complex as a whole.

The first stage involved the construction of a training ground for the SIGMA Olomouc football club, which started the project moving and ran from November 2006 to June 2007.

In the second stage (June – September 2007), the Municipal Council of Olomouc invested its own funds in the reconstruction of the area in front of the Ander Stadium and built a car park with a pedestrian zone and a cycle path, which is now in public use. The building work has improved traffic links between Legionářská Street and Dolní Hejčínská Street. The outdated children’s cycling practice circuit was also moved to the south side of the complex.

The third stage of the project (July 07 - August 08) was the construction of the OMEGA open sports centre itself (on a plot covering 23,800 sq. metres; built-up area over 7,340sq. metres), which is conceptually designed as a complex of three halls for tennis, squash and badminton, which are linked by a central two-storey building with cloakrooms, a gym, an aerobics hall, an extensive regeneration zone containing saunas, a jacuzzi and swimming pool, plus all the necessary sanitary facilities. The centre also contains a sports shop, a children’s corner, a WI-FI cafe, and solariums. Next to the building there are nine outdoor clay tennis courts, with a summer snack bar; this is integrated into the indoor car park for centre clients, which has spaces for 79 cars. The construction of such a grand sports centre is a unique project for the Czech Republic, and is also unrivalled in neighbouring European countries. All the sports grounds are designed to meet the criteria for international tournaments. The complex offers a wide range of activities, unlike previous centres, and therefore the entire project had to be created with no experience of similar projects to draw on.

The fourth and last stage will be the construction of a four-star hotel with congress facilities, which will be erected on the north part of the site between the OMEGA Sports and Health Centre and Dolní Hejčínská Street, and will be linked to the sports centre by an underground passage, which has already been built. The hotel, with a capacity of 280 beds, congress facilities seating 500 guests, a restaurant, bar, and all the necessary facilities, will have its own indoor car park with a greenery-covered roof, offering 114 parking spaces. Construction will begin at the end of this year and be completed in spring 2010.

The building of the hotel will be the culmination of several years spent trying to convert this unused legacy of the past into a meaningful multi-purpose complex, with a modern sports centre covering more than eight hectares brought to life in the city centre and linked with new infrastructure and a high-class four-star hotel. In other words, everything that Olomouc and the region as a whole are lacking.

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