Twilight skating on Nikolajka. The oldest stadium in Prague will not freeze in autumn
The Prague Nikolajka Winter Stadium is suspended for at least the next season. The owners justify this by the emergency condition of the machines and the sharp increase in energy prices. Sports clubs, schoolchildren and the general public, who used to come here every weekend for their popular public skating, are losing their home ice.
After the demolition of Prague’s Štvanice in 2011, Nikolajka became the oldest winter stadium in Prague, where they are still skating. But it will not apply from next season.
The owners of the 60-year-old sports ground have announced that they will no longer freeze the ice in the autumn.
“Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure the operation of the Nikolajka winter stadium in the following. This is an unprecedented situation, influenced by factors that could not be prepared in advance – a jump in energy prices and emission deadlines,” said NIKO Praha as in a statement provided by Aktuálně.cz .
Hockey players from HC Smíchov, figure skaters of the traditional Stadion club and schoolchildren from Prague 5 suddenly found themselves without a home ice rink.
“We found out a few weeks ago. I’m unhappy, we’re going to be nomads,” says Michaela Kaňáková, the chairwoman of the figure skaters at the Stadium. She is now diligently looking for a training area for more than sixty charges of the club, for which the legendary Roman siblings or the Olympic medalist Hana Mašková once skated.
The hockey players of the HC Smíchov club, in which they train around two hundred children, also found themselves in a similarly unenviable situation. They, too, spent every day on Nikolajka and now have to hastily look for a place to train. Which is not easy at all, given the lack of ice rinks in Prague.
“I need to look for everything else in Prague and beyond. For example, two teams will train us in Černošice, we are discussing others. It will be quite logistically demanding,” says Michal Gandalovič, chairman of the Smíchov hockey players.
Compressors from the 1960s have reached the end of their service life
The situation in Nikolajka is the result of two factors. The first is the outdated surface cooling technology, which relied on CKD compressors from the 1960s. and operation, however, became more and more demanding, and in recent years it has been a problem to find spare parts.
Obsolete compressors in the Nikolajka engine room Photo: Milan Kammermayer
Therefore, I planned a general reconstruction of the engine room, for which the owners even received a grant. However, according to them, they did not manage to use it due to long data on deadlines from suppliers, which would prolong the reconstruction disproportionately.
The result is a situation where stadium operators are no longer able to ensure complete safety. Which is an absolute priority with the more than six tons of ammonia that the stadium uses as a cooling medium.
“Due to the long-term limit, the necessary refurbishment of the machines and the plan to change the heating and domestic hot water (gas dependency reduction) cannot be carried out until the beginning of the new winter season. owners.
The second reason for closing the stadium is the dramatic situation on the energy market. As a result, the price of contracted electricity and gas increased many times over in Nikolajka. And the costs would have to be passed on to these stadium visitors, leading to fears of losing traffic, which ended in the red last year.
This is a new area in Prague 5
If these problems cannot be solved satisfactorily, the prospects of the oldest winter stadium in Prague remain highly uncertain. The owners claim that they will decide on the next fate of Nikolajka next year.
Figure skater Hana Mašková in 1969 in Prague Photo: ČTK
“Our goal is to maintain sports activities at the Nikolajka stadium in the future, we are currently reviewing the reconstruction plan with regard to the development of energy and water prices. Currently, since May 2022, the stadium is used for inline hockey,” say the owners.
The city district of Prague 5, where Nikolajka administratively belongs, is also actively interested in the situation around the stadium. However, even politicians have not yet managed to ensure the continued operation of the stadium.
“The city tried to negotiate the lease or purchase of the stadium, but they (Niko, note. Red.) did not come up with any solution to the situation, “says councilor David Dušek (STAN).
However, such an interpretation of mutual negotiations is denied by the stadium owners. “The city district did not offer us any specific help. We are not discussing the sale of the stadium with any of them. We did not receive a specific offer for the sale of the stadium from Prague 5,” the owners said in a statement.
In any case, according to Councilor Dušek, the city district is now negotiating an alternative solution, in which at least a temporary ice rink would be created in the territory of Prague 5, which could represent the function of Nikolajka.
“At the moment, I am looking for ways to provide skating for young athletes, schoolchildren and citizens of Prague 5. We also have selected locations where at least a temporary ice rink could form, but most of all it is under negotiation,” says Dušek.
However, the question is, of course, how quickly the construction of the temporary ice rink can take place and also whether the will of the politicians does not record the results of the autumn municipal elections.
Catastrophic scenarios are imminent
As a performance of the Czech Union of Sports (ČUS), the case of the termination of Nikolajka’s operation may not be far from the only one. Rising energy prices will become unsolvable problems for other stadiums and therefore sports clubs and athletes themselves.
“We expect that from September there will be an increase in children’s training and probably even more catastrophic scenarios. When the heating season starts in the autumn, some associations will close the sports grounds or get rid of them. Jansta.
Tensions were heightened by the unsuccessful meeting of the President of the National Sports Agency, Filip Neusser, with the Ministry of Finance, Zbyněk Stanjura, who rejected the request to increase funds for the operation and maintenance of sports venues.
Instead of last year’s 550 million, less than a hundred million crowns were to be available for this purpose this year. Sports organizations have to wait for a comprehensive solution, the conditions of which, however, have not yet been announced by the government.