Prague’s Strahov Stadium could become giant startup hub
Prague’s huge Strahov Stadium could be transformed into a startup hub and testing centre. Next week should see the signing of a memorandum between Prague City Hall and the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), which counts on a EUR 485 million reconstruction of the facility that could be used test to test autonomous drones as well as housing a 3D printer research lab, news site E15.cz reports.
“The aim is to set up a startup environment under the auspices of the Czech Technical University in Prague in cooperation with the CTU student union. In the first phase, CTU will receive spaces that were used by commentators in the eastern stand of the stadium. That’s where the first startups will be assigned their bases,” Prague City Hall’s Councillor Jan Chabr told E15.cz.
One of the partners in the proposed overhaul of the facility is also Czechia’s leading 3D printer manufacturer Prusa Research, according to Mr Chabr.
“A test laboratory will be established in cooperation with Prusa Research. There are much bigger plans for the future and I hope that we will be able to realise first the reconstruction of the whole eastern stand and gradually the others too.”
The reconstruction of the stands should take place in the second part of the project and will include the establishment of restaurants, cafes and sports facilities in order to create a complex centre of activities, Czech Technical University’s Vice-Chancellor Veronika Kramaříková told the news site.
A subsequent third phase would the see the whole stadium get a roof, with the covered area then made available for testing autonomous drones and vehicles. It is estimated that the total reconstruction would cost around EUR 485 million.
