AN ARENA to host the 2011 World Ice Hockey Championships and a new football stadium to satisfy the needs of the Slovak national team are both set to appear on Tehelné Pole in Bratislava, a site currently occupied by the stadium belonging to the Slovan Bratislava football club, the Pravda daily wrote on October 5.
The Bratislava city authorities took the last necessary steps towards acquiring suitable land for building the two sports facilities on October 4.
The modern multi-functional arena where the hockey event will take place is set to replace an old cycling arena.
Bratislava City Council approved a proposal for the location of the stadiums by an overwhelming majority of 65 out of 70 votes. However, this move provoked strong opposition from Bratislava's head architect, Štefan Šľachta, who said the current trend around the world is to build such facilities on the outskirts of cities rather than near (or in) the centre.
Šľachta argues the location will cause traffic problems to become even worse than they are at the moment. Bratislava Mayor Andrej Ďurkovský admitted traffic could be a problem with the arena plan, but said the plan is still feasible.
