in Espoo we are once again living in decisive moments regarding the extensive development project of the Tapiola sports park.
The football stadium, other football fields and outdoor sports venues, which have been planned for years, form a whole that Espoo enthusiasts and top athletes are eagerly waiting for.
The decisive decision has been awaited for a long time.
Sports director of the city of Espoo Martti Merra told HS last December that the construction of the dodging fields should start during the fall of 2024. The construction of the football stadium could start in 2025.
Even the collapse of FC Honga’s men’s representative team and the loss of a place in the betting league should not have affected the schedule.
We are now living in the fall of 2024. There are no plans to start construction of the dodgeball fields, and the stadium will not start construction until the beginning of 2025, or possibly even next year.
Is Tapiola’s eternity project facing a headwind again, or even completely threatened?
Read more: The eternal project of Espoo’s sports is finally coming to fruition – this is the schedule for the Tapiola stadium
Espoo chairman of the city’s sports committee Leo Heiskanen says that the city’s decision-makers are still “positive” about the project.
According to Heiskanen, the package is practically assembled, but the final decisions are missing. They have been missing for a long time.
“The package for construction has been ready for about a year. Final decisions are expected during the rest of the year,” says Heiskanen.
“We try to stay realistic and we want good conditions at reasonable prices.”
Heiskanen is clearly frustrated by the situation. While shiny, modern stadiums have been built in places like Tampere and Seinäjoki, in Espoo it’s a seemingly eternal tragedy.
“No matter where you go, the first question is always where your stadium is and when it will be finished. That’s how we think it is too”, sighs Heiskanen.
Honka and HJK filled the Sports Park many times. All that remains of the old scaffolding stadium is the main stand.
Main the next step is to decide on the project plan. After that, the city could tender the contractors.
Leading the project Jarmo Kulmala does not dare to talk about schedules, but hopes that a decision will be made during the rest of the year.
It could mean that the contractor would be chosen during spring or summer.
“At the moment, we are proposing to implement a football stadium, the parking facility that will come under it, three football fields and other outdoor sports venues,” says Kulmala.
The cost estimate for the stadium and parking facility alone is 73 million euros.
The project plan also includes a provision for replacing the current, aging multipurpose hall with a new one.
The sports board hopes that the hall would be implemented at the same time as the stadium and the rest of the package. Kulmala probably considers it too expensive as a whole, but don’t close the door on this completely.
“The project plan also makes it possible that if a quick decision is made, both can be done at the same time.”
The corner reminds us that the Urheilupuisto project is not really just about eternity, i.e. a football stadium.
Outdoor sports facilities and soccer fields would serve a wide user base, but they too cannot be implemented as long as a decision is not made about the stadium.
“The construction plan for the outdoor areas will be ready by the end of November. It is the moment for the city to decide on the launch of these and tendering. It won’t start without a stadium,” Kulmala emphasizes.
According to Merra, decision-making is also influenced by the current situation in the housing market.
“This is not the best time to sell plots of land for housing construction. That money, however, is intended to build that stadium. These things have to coincide, so it would be good if your relationship turned around.”
Tapiola’s old sports hall, “Monari”, wants to be replaced with a new one. However, it doesn’t necessarily happen hand in hand with a football stadium.
Merra and Heiskanen both point out now that the collapse of Esport Honga has had an indirect effect on the project being stalled.
“At the moment, there is no pressure from the direction of the Veikkausliiga, which would force us to speed up the decision-making,” summarizes Merran.
Mayor Jukka Mäkelä communicated to HS that the project was “progressing according to plan”. He said that the budget proposal will be given on October 31.
According to Merra, however, no decision will be made about the football stadium in this context, because its construction will not start yet next year.
At the most, in that context, a decision would be made about the construction of dodgeball fields, because it could be started in a year’s time in the fall, when the football league season ends.
The situation is therefore very similar to the same time a year ago.
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