The PLN 100 million (EUR 24 million, USD 29 million) facility near the border with the Czech Republic will be one of the most modern cross-country ski and biathlon centres in Central Europe, according to officials.
In addition to serving winter sports enthusiasts, the new centre is expected to enable Poland to host major international Nordic sports competitions.
The project will get under way in the spring and is scheduled to be completed in January 2020.
The centre will offer professional cross-country ski and biathlon trails complete with a new shooting range, in addition to an accompanying infrastructure including a roller-skiing track, an athletics track, a soccer pitch, and an indoor swimming pool.
The facility will also provide ski, roller-ski and bicycle rentals as well as a ski-waxing area.
A four-star hotel and conference and training facilities will also be available, along with a wellness center and a large gym.
“Jakuszyce is worth investing in because it is the Polish cross-country skiing mecca,” Deputy Sport Minister Jarosław Stawiarski has said.
The Ministry of Sport will foot half the bill and help carry out the project.
Every year Jakuszyce attracts thousands of cross-country skiers from Poland and abroad and hosts the country's premier XC ski marathon called Bieg Piastów (Piast Race).
Early last year, a group of ski resorts in southwestern Poland came up with an ambitious idea of hosting the 2030 winter Olympics together with Czech venues across the border.
Even though this plan is still on the drawing board, it is not necessarily a pipe dream, Stawiarski said, seconded by Cezary Przybylski, chairman of Poland's southwestern Dolnośląskie region, which has set up a special company to coordinate work to build the new centre in Jakuszyce.
(gs/pk)
Source: PAP, bieg-piastow.pl, wroclaw.wyborcza.pl, nj24.pl