At the beginning of January, the total of eight million investments in the Rapid Training Center in the Prater will be completed.
Future home: From January the professionals, the Rapid II players and the academy will practice and work together in the Prater
The construction progress of the stadium project was recorded by a live camera. There were regular tours and construction site appointments for a closer look at the Allianz Stadium. The “biggest project of this decade” at Rapid is comparatively quiet: It is about the long-awaited training center in the Prater, near the Happel Stadium, which was finally started in partnership with sponsor Michael Tojner (VARTA) and the City of Vienna.
On the one hand, a functional building does not provide such spectacular images as the new building in Hütteldorf from 2014 to 2016. Second, not everything has to be redone: a lot can be taken over from the sports center that was bought from “Wien Energie” and where Elektra used to be located.
After completing the first construction phase, the second phase started last week. The functional building of the “Körner Training Center powered by VARTA” is scheduled to go into operation as early as the beginning of 2022. The goal is clear and high on the time: The Rapid players should be offered optimal training and the employees in the sporting area just such working conditions.
Professional cabins ready
Sports manager Stefan Ebner, as the person responsible for the project, emphasizes that the schedule fits despite the ongoing corona pandemic: “With the completion of the first construction phase, both the combat team's cabin, the coaching offices and the physiotherapy area have been completed. The second phase now includes all remaining interior fittings in the functional building. ”
Builders: Barisic (right), Peschek and the project manager Ebner (left) on the Rapid im Prater construction site
This involves cabins for the academy teams, rooms for catering and recreation for the players, plus the weight room and modern office space.
Managing Director Christoph Peschek is satisfied: “After the Allianz Stadium, the training center is the next big future project to strengthen the foundation for the competitiveness of Rapid.”
“Tremendous improvement”
After the short winter break, 100 percent use will be possible. Sports director Zoran Barisic explains: “For Rapid, the training center brings a significant advantage for sporting development through the enormous qualitative improvement in training operations.”
A traditional problem caused by the division of the teams between Hütteldorf and the Prater, and also in different buildings, should then be a thing of the past. “As soon as all teams are accommodated at the same location, this also optimizes the cooperation between professionals, Rapid II and the academy,” Barisic is convinced.
The Hütteldorfers are investing a total of eight million euros.
