This is the second venue under construction in Linz. Interestingly, a furniture warehouse will be created under the stadium, which means that the pitch will have to be raised above street level.

On September 16, the cornerstone laying ceremony marked the official start of the works. Donauparkstadion should be put into operation on June 30, 2023 and that will allow Blau-Weiß to begin the 2023/24 season at the new facility. On October 9, 2021 a similar event was organised by the local rival Linzer ASK who started works at Raiffeisen Arena.

© Atelier Mauch

During the construction, Blau-Weiß are playing their home games at Hofmann Personal Stadion that has only 1,300 seats. It may not be much, but at least the club has remained in its hometown. Linzer ASK had to move to Pasching.

The new arena is to have 5,387 seats, and the contract for general contracting was awarded to the Vienna branch of Grazer Granit GmbH. The company knows the surrounding area very well, as it was responsible for the construction of the nearby ring roads.

Including the furniture warehouse, the entire project is expected to cost € 30 million, although at the time of the design presentation it was assumed that the expenditure would be twice as low. As local media recently reported, the stadium will receive a € 3 million grant from the Upper Austria government.

© Atelier Mauch

The demolition works of the old stadium and the preparation of the site for construction are scheduled for autumn this year. In addition to the Blau-Weiß team, the women's Union Kleinmünchen side and the Austrian women's national football selection will play there after the completion of the venue.

Next year, Blau-Weiß will mark its 25th anniversary. It seemed that the club would be celebrating it in the Bundesliga, because theoretically it was promoted to it, winning the 2. Liga in the 2020/21 season.

However, the club's authorities decided not to apply for a license to play in the top flight. One of the reasons was the lack of a proper ground. As a result, the promotion was awarded to Austria Klagenfurt, third in the table.

Author: Tomasz Sobura