Feature

Ice hockey teams to play at new 13,000-seat Tampere arena

Finnish Ice Hockey League teams Tappara and Ilves have reached an agreement to play at the new Tampere Central Dock and Arena venue.

The multi-purpose arena will be constructed in the heart of Tampere (pictured), connecting the east and west sides of the city. It will have a capacity of 13,000, making it Finland’s largest sports and event arena.

Preparatory construction work has already been carried out for the project and final decisions are due to be made later this year. It is hoped construction will begin immediately after an investment decision has been made.

The site’s southern railway yard will first need to be covered with a deck, on which the arena will sit, along with a hotel and two tower buildings. The second phase of construction will include the building of a northern deck and three more tower buildings.

The entire complex is due to be ready by 2023, although tentative agreements have been signed with Tappara and Ilves for the teams to begin playing at the arena from the 2021-22 season.

Lapland Hotels has also been hired to operate the project’s hotel, while Restamax will handle the arena’s restaurant services.

Timo Nieminen, executive vice-president of SRV, the construction company leading the project, said: “The multipurpose arena will be an all-year-round experience centre, flexibly serving events of different sizes. We are delighted to announce that we have signed agreements with Lapland Hotels on the operation of the hotel to be constructed in the arena complex and with Restamax on the provision of restaurant services.

“At the same time, we have also signed agreements with the local Finnish Ice Hockey League teams Tappara and Ilves from league season 2021-22 onwards. In addition to top-class ice hockey, the arena will naturally also host many other sports as well as notable concerts, exhibitions and other events.”

Sharing the vision of the project, TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Summit will welcome Paulina Ahokas, Managing Director, Tampere Hall and Mika Sulin, Chairman, Sport & Live Vision to the 2017 speaker line up. Download our full programme for more details.

Image: Seronline