Polonia Warszawa Stadium. The club wants a retractable roof and stands for 20,000 fans

“The modernization of the Konwiktorska 6 center has received a building permit,” announced the vice-president of the capital. Meanwhile, Polonia Warszawa, the main user of the facility, would like changes to the existing project. The club's authorities expect that the stadium will have a retractable roof over the pitch, and the stands will accommodate at least 20,000 fans. The city hall doesn't even want to hear about it.

Renata Kaznowska, vice-president of Warsaw, responsible for, among others, for sports. And she reminded that this concerns the construction of a football stadium, but also the buildings of a sports hall and a sports support center, a square between them and an underground parking lot.

“I am finishing a certain stage that cost me/us a lot of effort and a lot of work. With the building permit, my role in the center's modernization process, as the vice-president supervising Warsaw sports, also ends,” wrote Kaznowska. Further work will take place in the Economic Development Office, which is supervised by city secretary Maciej Fijałkowski.

Four partners interested in cooperation

Let us remind you: the new complex at Konwiktorska 6 is to be built in the public-private partnership (PPP) formula. The plan assumes that the city will provide PLN 114 million, and the rest will be financed by the private partner. Then he will earn money by managing an underground parking lot with over 700 spaces and a sports support center building. The stadium and arena would remain the responsibility of the city, but not for free.

Four entities are interested in participating in the project: Consortium: Acciona Concesiones SL and Mostostal Warszawa; Strabag – Project; Project Development 4 and Doraco Construction Corporation. In the near future, everyone will receive all the documentation along with an invitation to submit the final offer. What's next?

– We assume that the preparation and submission of appropriate offers by the participants of the procedure should take approximately six-seven months from the moment of receiving the invitation to submit offers – replies Marzena Gawkowska from the town hall press office. – However, it should be emphasized that this stage of PPP will require significant commitment from contractors. It is time-consuming and cost-intensive. The deadline for submission will depend on the pace of contractors' preparations, he reserves.

After the announcement of obtaining a building permit, a statement was published on the website of the Polonia Warszawa club, which was most interested in the investment for obvious reasons.

It expressed joy at obtaining an important document, but the decision to submit an offer (the club owned by Polish-French entrepreneur Grégoire Nitot cooperates with Strabag) depended on two issues: far-reaching changes in the stadium design and a different management model of the complex. Detailed comments were described in a 20-page letter sent in the summer to the authorities of Warsaw and the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. Now he was remembered.

Fully covered stadium with 20,000 seats

The club believes that the stadium according to the concept of the JSK Architekci office selected in the competition will be unprofitable because it will not function as a year-round arena. Therefore, the Polonia authorities propose “transforming the new facility into a covered arena, with the option of a closed roof, which will ensure the possibility of organizing events all year round, regardless of the weather.” The pitch would have a synthetic turf (as in Scandinavia), more adequate to the weather conditions in Poland.

The plan assumes increasing the capacity of the stands to 20,000 seats, of which 3,000 would have a higher standard, as well as 30 business boxes. Today, the stadium has about seven thousand seats, and it is rarely possible to fill it completely (for this year, the club assumed average sales of three thousand tickets per match). There is no question of a premium zone in an outdated facility, portable toilets dominate outside.

When looking for comparisons and inspirations, the club points to Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, La Défense Arena in Paris or Johan Crujif Arena in Amsterdam. And I propose to the Ministry of Sport that instead of the construction that has been planned for years sports and entertainment hall on the grounds of the National Stadium, got involved in the project at 6 Konwiktorska Street.

Threats and risks. Three alternative options

The president of Polonia, who signed the letter, does not like the public-private partnership model adopted by the city hall, in which the private entity only manages the parking lot and the sports support center, but not the stadium and sports hall. He indicates that this will limit the club's business options and reduce its ability to generate income. He sees a risk in the city leasing the stadium “at a high price to cover investment and operating costs.” He warns that in the long run this may lead to the bankruptcy of Polonia Warszawa. “And without a resident club, the facility may remain empty, bringing additional losses to the city,” says president Gregoire Nitot.

It presents three alternatives to the current model. The first is a modified PPP, in which the city accepts the club's conditions and establishes it as the only private partner. In the second variant, the city (or the ministry) establishes a special purpose vehicle with the club, which implements the investment and the facility is managed by the club. The preferred third option is to transfer all rights related to the project and land to the club, then it would take over the construction and operation of the stadium.

Polonia Warszawa Stadium in visualizations

Too late for design changes

Renata Kaznowska responded, also in writing. We found her letter, in which she deals point by point with the club's proposals. The deputy mayor of Warsaw is surprised by the comments regarding the project and reminds that the architectural concept was selected “with the participation of representatives of the Polonia Warsaw community.” This is true, although it should be added that when the competition was decided – in 2019, the club did not belong to Grégoire Nitot yet (he took it over a year later).

“Representatives of Polonia Warszawa (including members of its management board) have been actively participating in the entire process since at least 2021 (signing the contract for the design documentation), and the new owner made his decision to take over shares in the sports club knowing the scope of the investment plans of the capital city .Warszawy towards Konwiktorska 6.” – writes Kaznowska.

As Kaznowska notes, Polish teachers took part in work on the so-called a multi-industry concept, which was further detailed in the competition concept. “We probably talked about all the elements, parameters and features of the future complex,” he argues.

He admits that not all of the club's applications were taken into account, “but the vast majority of them were ultimately included in the construction design.” And he gives examples of compromise solutions: “It was not possible to increase the capacity of the hall to the requested 2.5 thousand spectators (however, we increased it from the initial 1.2 thousand. up to 2 thousand) and the stadium capacity up to the requested 20,000. (we increased it from the initial 12,000 to 16,000).

Long-term lease after promotion to the top league

Renata Kaznowska claims that she treated the club's entry into negotiations under the PPP as an unambiguous acceptance of the rules of the game. It proves that the decision to keep the stadium in the hands of the city and not to transfer it to a private partner was made for the good of the Polish community. So that if another entity wins the proceedings, the club will not be left out in the cold.

“In our opinion, this would pose greater risks for the club and would place much more emphasis on rent aspects than in the city model,” argues the vice president. And it indicates a door to a long-term lease of the complex from the city, as is the case with Legia Warszawa. It is to be opened by promotion to the top league (currently Czarne Shirts play in the first league, i.e. at the second level of the competition).

He argues with the calculation included in the club's letter that the facility will cost the city PLN 100 million annually for 15 years (“it is not confirmed by the city's financial models”). He admits that after the investment is completed, the town hall will have to make the so-called availability fees, but “while in the first few years the amount of such a fee may actually be close to this amount, it will gradually decrease in the following years” (to PLN 10-15 million per year).

Kaznowska argues that there is no legal possibility to make Polonia Warszawa the sole partner of the procedure. The other two variants (special purpose vehicle and 100% ownership of the club) were outlined too generally to refer to them.

“Do we want to throw away over six years of work and several million zlotys for the presented new vision of Konwiktorska 6, which may (to put it carefully) have little chance of coming true?” – asks the vice president finally, assures that the city will not deviate from the chosen path and expects the club to revise its position.

Full roofing means major structural changes

Architect Mariusz Rutz, co-author of the concept that won the architectural competition, is also surprised by the proposals of the Polish authorities.

– This would turn the ongoing procedure upside down. They participated in the evaluation of competition entries, and now they are changing their front – Rutz is surprised. He argues that it is easy to draw a sliding roof in the visualization, but designing it responsibly is a different matter.

– First of all, the structure with a retractable roof would have to be higher, above the height allowed in the current local plan. There is also the issue of conservation arrangements. Not to mention the fact that the costs of such a facility would be three or four times higher. It's not really a roof for Ruch's kiosk, Rutz sums up vividly.