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The South Moravian city of Bøeclav last hosted the Hlinka Gretzky Cup two years ago. Since then, the arena in Czechia’s famous wine region has undergone substantial renovation work and modernisation that fans, players and staff will all benefit from.
The renovations of the Bøeclav ice arena focused on two key areas: increasing comfort and energy saving measures.
“A new locker room and a warmup area for youth hockey and figure skating was added to the north side of the stadium,” said arena manager Radek Hrdina, “we also installed new boards that are compliant with the highest IIHF and Czech Ice Hockey Association requirements, while also being part of the stadium sound system.”
“I think we have a really comfortable arena for youth hockey,” thinks Hrdina.
Energy saving measures were also included in the renovations: “We now have LED lights and a new ventilation system in all the locker rooms,” said the arena manager, “we’ve also installed a solar array on the roof and the arena’s entire energy grid and management system has been optimised so we can monitor and regulate consumption.”
The renovation plans took two years to finalise and coincided with the current situation on the global energy market. The project is a so-called EPC project, which means the modernisation costs are repaid by the operator from the savings relative to the old technology. According to Hrdina, that was a contributing factor in decision making regarding the renovations.
This is all well and good, but what improvements will fans notice when they come to the arena?
“They’ll definitely notice the improved lighting, especially the new lights in the boards,” highlighted Hrdina.
“But players and staff will notice much more – like the brand-new locker room ventilation system with heat recuperation that will dry their gear faster,” he added.
Poland’s U16 team have already visited the improved arena in Bøeclav while the U18 national teams set to play in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup will start their games here on Monday, 31 July.
