The second and the third largest Bulgarian cities, Plovdiv and Varna, have announced ambitious plans for modern sports facilities worth millions of euro.

On February 9, Plovdiv saw the public presentation of the project to build a covered high-tech cycling track, the first ever in Bulgaria.

The project was presented by two well-known architects, Bulgarian Todor Abadjiev and Sander Douma of the Netherlands. Douma has designed velodromes in Manchester, Mallorca, Adelaide and in Athens for the 2004 summer Olympics.

The cycling track will be built on the site of the current Akademik stadium in the southern part of the city. The main investor in the project is construction company Rea 96. The company has secured one and a half million euro as bank guarantees. This will be enough for the first stage of the construction, Rea 96 said. The rest of the projected funds are expected to come from the sale of commercial space at the facility, which will have a built up area of 3500 sq m. The total amount of investment is expected to reach five million euro. The racetrack will be 250 m by seven m, and it will have four metres of security lane. The facility will be built according to international standards, Douma said. The new sport facility will have 300 parking spaces, as well as commercial areas and a small hotel for athletes. The hall will have seating capacity for 3000, which may later be increased to 5000. Work is expected to start in September 2007. The deadline for completing construction is October 2008. The new sport facility will be multi-functional, Abadjiev said.

A few days earlier, Varna announced plans for the construction of a high-tech football stadium. The new facility will be on the site of the current Yuri Gagarin city stadium, which will be demolished this summer to make way for the new project.

Source: www.sofiaechomedia.com