KFC Uerdingen residence revamp cost go up

Article posted by Coliseum, March 29^th, 2021

Image: WDR1

The German football club KFC Uerdingen has reasons to celebrate. The Council of the City of Krefeld in Germany recently greenlighted the refurbishment of their residence – Grotenburg Stadion – the price tag of which will come to additional six million euros. It was a verdict in favor of the football club – 45:11. The stadium can now be rehabilitated third league-ready.

‘liga3-online.de’ stated that the whole revamp exercise will prove to be more costly than was initially thought! In 2020, the City approved a sum of 10.5 million euros for the renovation of Grotenburg-Stadion. Later, it turned out that 10.5 million euros will fall short of converting the venue to make it suitable for the third division. The building contractor had calculated additional costs of around seven million euros. Apart from the washrooms and kiosks, the relocation of the standing area for the guest fans to the West stand, composite paving of the playing area, parking spaces for bicycles, additional auditorium for wheelchair users, protection against rain water seepage, a police and medical station as well as more open spaces turned out to be more expensive than was initially thought. However, the City refused to consider the additional costs part in December last year.

KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the City of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The onetime Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s but now currently plays in the 3^rd division, 3. Liga.

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The 34,500-capacity Grotenburg-Stadion is a multiuse stadium in Krefeld, Germany. It is used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of KFC Uerdingen 05. The stadium was built in 1927.

‘liga3-online.de’ further stated that KFC Uerdingen scaled down their venue expansion plans by reducing the number of business seats and doing away with the second referee’s booth thus reducing the budget by one million to a total of 16.3 million euros. The City Council has now approved the additional costs of almost six million euros as well as a draft for the establishment of a stadium company. According to the City Council authorities, the Grotenburg “should not only be available for 3rd division operation after it has been upgraded, but also for other sporting and cultural uses”. This requires the establishment of a “professional stadium operation”.

One thing is clear, KFC Uerdingen will not be able to return to their digs this summer as planned as the venue will not be fully operational until the end of April 2022. And a game with spectators does not seem possible in the next few months, probably in February 2022 at the earliest a matchup is likely to take place at the Grotenburg-Stadion. This translates into the fact that for the fourth year on the trot, the Krefeld team will have to move to another stadium in the coming season. The KFC Uerdingen is presently playing in Lotte, Germany.

Earlier, it played its home games in Düsseldorf (MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA) and Duisburg in Germany. Whether the German Football Association (DFB) will agree to another move in the event of relegation remains an open-ended question.

The German Football Association (DFB) is the successful governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the men’s and women’s national teams. The DFB headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Initially, “safety-relevant measures” will be carried out as part of the repurposing exercise including the renewal of lightning protection and high-voltage systems, fire protection measures and upgrading the sewage and water systems. The expenditure will come to 9.4 million euros. Civil engineering work for setting up underfloor heating, painting work and the new glazing on the main stand were already carried out last year. Around 12 million euros would be required to equip the stadium for a match in the regional league with a capacity to pack in 3,500 spectators.

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