The Tammela stadium construction contract has stretched the budget, schedules and working days. Now everything is finally ready.
Maria Salovaara,
Laura Hart
Uusenkarhea Tammela stadium in Tampere is finally ready to receive both the players and the football audience.
The ball will fall on the grass today, Saturday, when the football Veikkausliiga starts. Tampereen Ilves and FC Lahti play opposite each other at the Tampere stadium.
Stadium manager Toni Hevonkorpi has been waiting for this moment for ten years.
– The feeling is certainly happy and emotional. It’s the beginning of a new era when the ball starts moving on the grass, Hevonkorpi says.
Long days and excitement
According to Hevonkorvi, the final crunch in the construction of the stadium has been tight. About two years’ worth of work has been done in half a year, so there has been something to be excited about.
The fast schedule has been influenced, among other things, by the fact that the choice of operator was only made last summer. The stadium’s operator is Ilves Edustus, which is responsible for example for restaurant and catering services, ticket sales, exclusive sales rights and other match events.
Hevonkorpi says that with many other things it has gone pretty much down to the chalk lines.
For example, there have been difficulties in procuring certain equipment.
– The LED light fence surrounding the field was only delivered to the site before Easter and it has only recently been installed. In addition, some cables have yet to be connected.
The tight schedule has meant long working hours. Hevonkorpi promises that everything is ready for Saturday’s game.
The budget exploded
Tammela Stadium has 8,000 seats. The construction of the stadium has cost 43 million euros, which is about half as much as originally planned.
Toni Hevonkorpi says that he is the wrong person to answer budget questions, but thinks that the price tag has been greatly affected by the price increases of materials.
– Of course, economic cycles have had an effect. When the stadium started to be built, the price of steel was sky high.
There are no wasted squares in the stadium. The area wanted to be built in such a way that no space is idle, but it can always be modified according to the purpose of use.
A good example of this is the photographers’ workspace, which is only used for certain international matches. So the use is minimal, but according to UEFA rules, it should be found.
However, there are no idle visits to the space, because in everyday life the space serves as a lounge for the players.
– The aim has been to ensure that all facilities are in use every day, says Hevonkorpi.
Matti Härkönen and Jussi Vainikka visited the opening ceremony of the Veikkausliiga at the Tammela stadium at the beginning of the week to ask the coaches and captains of the teams about the mood during the opening round.