Within 5-6 years the surroundings of PGE Arena Gdańsk are to become a nationwide centre for leisure. New theme park, aquapark, tropical gardens, hotel and spa are to join the stadium.

During today’s press conference Gdansk president Paweł Adamowicz presented what the city believes to be the future of Letnica, the district housing PGE Arena Gdańsk. Before Euro 2012 this was a largely abandoned industrial precinct which is now reviving dynamically with new access routes. In fact, it’s already one of the best connected locations in Gdansk.

This is why the municipality wants to go forward and implement what was already envisaged in 2006 as secondary infrastructure to the PGE Arena Gdańsk stadium. Spanning across 4.66 hectares (500,000 square feet), a new leisure hub would include an indoor theme park, aquapark, tropical gardens, spa and a hotel.

The entire project could cost up to PLN 260 million ($66.6m / €62m), but the city hopes to cover only a small portion of investment needed. Gdansk offers the lucrative location and may participate in construction cost, but vast majority should be contributed by private investors who would run the new projects.

The city already presented its latest plans to private operators in Cannes, where two major players expressed interest in being part of the project. Plans of the city would make it Poland’s biggest and most modern leisure destination. Letnica is transforming rapidly. PGE Arena is already neighboured by new exposition center, which makes it more attractive to potential hotel operators.

Aesthetically all elements of the complex should be connected with the stadium. With height limit of 30 meters for the new venues PGE Arena would remain dominant as a landmark. Recent renderings by Rhode Kellermann Wawrowsky also include a gently waved public plaza, resembling water washing stones on the beach.

Implementing the entire plan might take 5-6 years, but this depends on the project’s popularity among investors. Each element alone should take under 2 years to build and launch. For Gdansk it’s a chance at improving tourism infrastructure, currently strongly dependent on the summer season.