SF in Aarhus proposes to scale down new stadium construction by a quarter of a billion Danish crowns following an extra budget.

Aarhus City Hall proposes scaling back new soccer stadium project after unexpected budget increase of nearly 250 million Danish crowns

The new soccer stadium in Aarhus is now expected to cost around one billion Danish crowns.

Ceres Park in Aarhus is currently undergoing renovation and will still be in progress for some time. (Photo: © Bo Amstrup, Ritzau Scanpix)

By Rasmus Linderoth ([email protected]) 11 minutes ago

Yesterday, Aarhus City Hall announced that the cost of building the new soccer stadium in Aarhus is estimated to be around one billion Danish crowns. This is nearly 250 million Danish crowns more than anticipated.

Besides the 40 million Danish crowns from Købmand Herman Sallings Foundation, the magistrate departments behind the project propose finding the remaining 208 million Danish crowns in the municipal budgets.

This has led SF's councilor for Children and Youth in Aarhus City Hall, Thomas Medom, to suggest reconsidering the plans for the prestigious project.

"We are forced to be responsible and consider whether we should switch from gold class to silver class on this stadium project," he says.

The grandiose stadium plans in Aarhus were presented in December 2022. The project's working title is "Skovens Arena." (Photo: © Bo Amstrup, Ritzau Scanpix)

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Criticizes former mayor

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According to Aarhus City Hall's outgoing social democratic mayor, Jacob Bundsgaard, the price increase is due to inflation, soil conditions, and unforeseen expenses related to removing surplus land.

"And we have a desire not to compromise on the architectural quality, which has meant that we had to add extra funds," he says.

However, Thomas Medom criticizes Jacob Bundsgaard for not managing the economy well in the project.

"It's not his proudest moment to go out and ask for hundreds of millions from taxpayers after a promise that it wouldn't be the city that would pay. These are funds that should have been used for the elderly, schools, and other important projects," Thomas Medom says.

"We think, one should tighten the belt and build a smaller stadium."

Jacob Bundsgaard emphasizes that it is up to the city council to decide what action to take, and he believes that the financing is responsible and does not negatively impact the welfare.

"I think it's reasonable that we, from the city's side, contribute to finding financing to cover the increase in costs, so that the high ambitions in terms of architecture and experience can be maintained. But, of course, it's unfortunate that the price has risen," he says.

Aarhus City Council is expected to take a stance on the magistrate departments' proposal later in November.

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