Next year's budget of Łódź is almost approved, pending just one more change. That change covers commencement of works on the expansion of ŁKS stadium to reach around 20,000 seats.

They're only playing in Poland's third league now, but ŁKS Łódź are gradually climbing back to the top tier. This Christmas they've been given a very special gift by the mayor of Łódź, who on Thursday announced she would present amendment proposal to the 2018 municipal budget.

Hanna Zdanowska will file the amendment on December 27, right after Christmas. It's a very minor change for a city with budget of nearly €1 billion, the amendment proposes transferring PLN 200,000 (under €50,000) for re-design work on the new stadium of ŁKS.

Already in operation with its main grandstand, the new stadium now has 5,700 seats, but it was always intended for expansion.

Initial plans suggested it would have two additional stands and capacity of app. 16,000 seats, with the north end coming in several years. However, earlier this year mayor Zdanowska admitted she intends to enclose the whole seating bowl in one go, ending with 18,000-20,000 seats.

The €50,000 will be used to amend the functional utility program. Tender for these works will be announced in January or February, after which preparations should take 3 months. This way in mid-2018 the municipality of Łódź should launch the actual 'design + build' tender for remaining three sides.

Work is expected to take from 2019 to late 2020 and the price is estimated to be within PLN 70-80 million (€17-19m). Interestingly, this optimistic estimate would mean the three missing stands would cost less than the main grandstand, which consumed some PLN 100 million.