Groundbreaking ceremony for Kleve's new sports center: A milestone for the Bresserberg!

Groundbreaking ceremony for Kleve's new sports center: A milestone for the Bresserberg!

A new milestone for Kleve: The groundbreaking ceremony for the Bresserberg sports center took place today. Mayor Wolfgang Gebing, accompanied by representatives of the sports clubs and those responsible from the town hall, marked the first symbolic groundbreaking for the development of the city's third sports center. The Unterstadt and Oberstadt sports centers have already been successfully implemented, now it's time to get down to business on the Bresserberg, Niederrhein Nachrichten reports.

An important project that will have a decisive impact on the sports landscape in Kleve. The plans include the renovation and completion of the grandstand building in the Eroglu Arena, which has been languishing as a shell since 2008. The examination of the planning documents by the Düsseldorf Regional Finance Directorate, which took an impressive 15 months, has now been completed. This means that nothing stands in the way of the construction of the long overdue grandstand, as FuPa reports.

Planned equipment and construction progress

The work on the grandstand building includes various facilities: On the ground floor, four changing rooms are being built for the teams and two for the referees. There is also an administration area with offices and meeting rooms, a tea kitchen, storage areas and a barrier-free toilet. On the upper floor there will be large gymnastics and multi-purpose rooms as well as a physio and weight room, also with a changing room and shower. A highlight is the barrier-free access, which is implemented throughout the entire building.

Construction work is scheduled to begin this year and completion is scheduled for the end of 2026. During this time, the seating stands will remain in operation for game operations. Another part of the project will upgrade the Gustav Hoffmann Stadium: This involves converting the natural turf field into a modern artificial turf field with synthetic circular running tracks as well as new facilities for long jump and triple jump, pole vault and more.

Financial support and more sports opportunities in the future

The city of Kleve is investing more than six million euros in the Bresserberg sports center and is receiving funding of 1.13 million euros from the federal program “Renovation of municipal facilities in the areas of sport, youth and culture”. This support is urgently needed because, as a special survey as part of the “KfW Municipal Panel 2025” shows, many municipalities are struggling with a lack of investment in their sports facilities. According to the German Institute for Urban Studies, 59% of municipalities stated that this backlog was “serious” or “notable”.

The ongoing developments in Kleve are particularly important for VfR Warbeyen, who plan to play second division football in the Eroglu Arena next season. However, to make this possible, the club needs the appropriate infrastructure. Mayor Gebing has already sent positive signals in this regard, but emphasizes that promotion and away games must first be awaited before subsidies can flow.

The developments in Kleve are all about promoting sports and creating more attractive conditions for sporting activities. It will be exciting to see how the projects will develop in the coming years.