The saga of Bucharest Ice Arena continues

One year ago the Major of Bucharest Gabriela Firea was in seventh heaven announcing the next end of the work for the new Ice Arena, began in 2017: "Starting from the middle of next year, the teams of hockey and ice-skating, as well as all citizens who want to skate and have fun on ice, will have a new Olympic ice rink, equipped to the highest standards.By finalizing this investment, we will put Bucharest and Romania on the map of international ice and skating competitions and at the same time offer Bucharest a modern sports and leisure center"

Twelve months after, the reality is quite different: only the 35% of the works were executed and very likely an additional 3-4 years would be needed to complete the facility. So last Wednesday the City Hall cancelled the contract with the constructor, a joint-venture between UTI and Astaldi. "The fact that the contractor did not take any action to remedy the delay, led us to make this decision - said the City Hall in a statement - " they also refused to give the City a timetable with realistic revised deadlines, which justified the delays and included measures to prevent further delays. Although there was a lot of consultation between the Town Hall and the contractor, it was not possible to reach an agreement, so the City had no choice but to break the contract with the contractor."

"We will take every possible step to recover the ice rink as soon as possible, and Bucharest will have a European-standard modern ice rink" added Mayor Gabriela Firea.

The Flamaropol calvary began in the 2000s. The arena, built in 1952, in an advanced state of degradation, was demolished in 2011. After long planning, the construction of the new ice rink began in 2017. The hall is planned to have about 9,500 square meters of built-in floor space, will accommodate 3,100 spectators, and will create a garden that can be used by visitors at the top, overlooking the lake in the sports complex.

According to the consortuim of constructors, the modification of the deadline for the project was determined by the delay with which the site required for the construction was handed over. Thus, it was partially handed over on August 2016, but the works could not begin because the contract clause to hand over the freestanding site was not respected. The construction commencement order was issued on 9 January 2017, but the beneficiary issued the entire site and issued the permit to demolish the last buildings on the land on which the skating rink must be built in September 2017, with a delay of 23 months after signing the contract.

In the middle of this battle, to make thingsworse for the Ice Arena, the City Hall announced, at the beginning of the week, the building of a new "unprecedented" Hall in Romania. It would have 20,000 seats, underground parking and be approved for all international competitions.Term of execution: 3 years!

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