Olympic Sports Park planned for Lipno area

The Lipno reservoir has been chosen as the site for an Olympic Sports Park. The deal was signed and finalised by Jiri Zimola, the governor of South Bohemia as well as Jiri Kejval, the head of the Czech Olympic Committee. The site is close to the borders with Germany and Austria and is one of the country’s most visited destinations. The Sports Park will boast a number of attractions as well as big screens showing live coverage from the event in Rio itself. The cost of the project is said to be around 65 million crowns (€2 million) but organisers are hoping that this will be offset by the revenue gained.

The Olympic centre is set to be built in the town of Lipno nad Vltavou and the surrounding area and will be opened for 16 days from the 5th of August during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil. This is not the only site of its kind; a similar park was built in Prague as a result of the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. That particular project was a success and saw nearly 50,000 visitors. However, the site in Lipno is expected to attract over six times that amount.

Similar, smaller centres are also set to reach other municipalities in the area including Predni Vyton and Frymburk. These municipalities already have sports centres so the funds of the project will be used for their improvement. Loucovice, however, are set to benefit from a new water sports centre and Jan Kublik, the major of Loucovice has said of the plans “It is a huge opportunity not only for the Lipno area but for the whole region of South Bohemia. We have been known as an industrial area and after the collapse of the local paper mill; we were looking for new opportunities. We believe that tourism is our only option.”

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