Warsaw Stadium will Rise

Just two weeks after Michel Platini’s visit to Poland ended on an optimistic note, another bright spot for Poland’s Euro 2012 preparations was announced. Mirosław Drzewiecki, the country’s minister of sport, along with the National Sporting Centre president, signed a contract today to start the construction of the National Stadium in Warsaw.

The contract is with the Austrian-German-Polish consortium Alpine – PBG. Juliusz Sikora, president of Alpine Construction Poland, also signed the 250 page agreement. Work will begin immediately, as Sikora stated at a press conference in the capital: “Our engineers are already on site, tomorrow we will take it over, and in a few days we will begin construction work.”

He also added that while the task is a difficult one, his engineers “are prepared” for the task.

The stadium, whose projected costs are more than 1.2 billion złoty, will be constructed over two years by 1,200 workers, and its planned completion date is May 2011. The nation will be watching its construction with hopes that the penalties for delays – also included in the signed contract – will not have to be imposed.