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The municipality of Kaunas approved the detailed plan of the S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium. This is the first step towards reconstructing the country's largest stadium. Next year, it is planned to prepare a technical reconstruction project. The municipality of Kaunas is not able to reconstruct the stadium with its own budget, so it is intended to attract support from the European Union (EU) structural funds.
The mayor of Kaunas, Andrius Kupčinskas, turned to the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, asking to contribute to the reconstruction of the nationally important stadium using the 2014-2020 financial perspective of EU support, with an estimated 20 million Lt necessary for the reconstruction of the S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium.
"The coordination of the detailed plan of the S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium took more than a year, as it is a Cultural Heritage area subject to specific requirements. However, we can be pleased that the detailed plan has been coordinated and signed. The next step will be the preparation of the technical reconstruction project. We want this significant sports facility not only for Kaunas, but for the whole of Lithuania, to be renovated and meet UEFA safety and infrastructure, as well as sustainability and longevity requirements. This complex is the cultural and sports center of Kaunas. It hosts various sports competitions at the city, national, and international levels, as well as cultural and health events," said the mayor of Kaunas, A. Kupčinskas.
At the end of November, it was decided at a meeting of the Government's Strategic Committee to continue the stalled construction of the National Stadium in Vilnius. It is estimated that this could cost up to 250 million Lt. According to the mayor of Kaunas, it would be much more rational to finally renovate the largest stadium in the country, the S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium, which could become a stadium of national importance.
"In order for the S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium to match the same level as the National Stadium planned in the capital, it would require 12 times less funding. The funding difference is obvious, and the result achieved would be the final renovation of an object of national importance. While various twists and turns are happening in the government regarding the National Stadium, the S. Darius and S. Girėnas complex should be renovated with EU funds. The goal of the state should be the renovation of this stadium until another option arises," said A. Kupčinskas.
"It is necessary to renovate the S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium in Kaunas and preserve this highly significant object for Kaunas," emphasized Valys Venslovas, chairman of the social democratic fraction of the Kaunas City Council.
Currently, the S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium has 9180 seats for spectators. After the reconstruction, this number would exceed 10,000. During the reconstruction, it is planned to install a VIP stand, a stadium heating system, an autonomous electrical system, and a separate stand for the visiting team's fans.
Last summer, the S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium hosted the European Team Championships in Athletics, attracting hundreds of participants, as well as the first-ever European U-19 Football Championship held in Lithuania.
The S. Darius and S. Girėnas Sports Center is the oldest structure in Lithuania dedicated to organizing sports and cultural events. In 1921, a football field and running tracks were set up on a plot of land leased by the Kaunas City Municipality to the Lithuanian Physical Education Union (LFLS).
At the initiative of the then-chairman of the LFLS, Steponas Darius, based on his project and partly with his funds, the first sports stadium in Lithuania was built in Kaunas's Ąžuolynas in 1924-1925.
