Spading for Kleve's new sports center: a milestone for the Bresserberg!

Spading 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 for the town hall, set the first symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for the development of the third sports center of the city. The sports centers of Unterstadt and Oberstadt have already been successfully implemented, now it goes to the Bresserberg, Niederrhein Nachrichten.

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: four changing rooms for the teams and two for the referees are being built on the ground floor. There is also an administrative area with offices and meeting rooms, a tea kitchen, storage space and a barrier -free toilet. There will be large gymnastics and multi-purpose rooms on the upper floor as well as a physio and weight room, also with changing room and shower. A highlight is the barrier -free access that is realized throughout the building.

The construction work is scheduled to begin this year and the completion is planned for the end of 2026. During this time, the sitting grandstand remains in operation for the game. In another part of the project, the Gustav Hoffmann Stadium is upgraded: This is about conversion of the natural grass field into a modern artificial turf field with plastic circuit railways as well as new facilities for the peak 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 receiving a funding of 1.13 million euros from the federal program “Refurbishment of local facilities in the areas of sports, youth and culture”. This support is urgently necessary because many municipalities, as a special survey as part of the "KfW Communal Panel 2025" shows, fight with an investment deficit in their sports facilities. According to the [German Institute for Urban Studies] (https://difu.de/publikations/2025/kommunale-sportstaetten-grosse-s-und-hoher-investment, 59% of the municipalities stated that this deficit was "serious" or "noteworthy".

The ongoing developments in Kleve are particularly important for VfR Warbeyen, who plans to play second division football in the Eroglu-Arena next season. To enable this, however, the association needs a corresponding infrastructure. Mayor Gebing has already sent positive signals of this regard, but emphasizes that the rise and implementation of away games must first be awaited before grants can flow.

The developments in Kleve are therefore all about sports funding and the creation of more attractive conditions for sporting activities. It remains exciting to see how the projects will develop in the coming years.