The City Park Sports Centre was opened today. Completed as part of the Liget Budapest Project, the 3,5-hectare park area can be found near the Ajtósi Dürer Way and Dózsa György Road intersection.

"The City Park Sports Centre is one of the most versatile sports areas in the capital, where visitors can try out over a dozen different sports in a completely revitalised green area of the city, next to the 13,000 square metres large playground." – announced the CEO of Városliget Zrt. at a press visit to the area - writes MTI.

Benedek Gyorgyevics emphasised that sports have always been a central element of life in City Park, but earlier "fitting conditions were previously a thing of dreams".

The City Park Sports Centre was opened on 3 September (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

The sports centre includes a football pitch with artificial grass and a stand, a basketball arena, three multifunctional sports courts, an open-air gym, terrain park and climbing wall, thirteen chess tables, four ping pong tables, two teqball tables, accessible changing rooms for men and women, and drinking fountains – listed the CEO. All these, apart from two sports courts that can be rented, can be used by anyone completely free of charge.

Two illuminated sports fields have also been built as part of the sports centre. (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

Two bookable, illuminated pitches have also been created. The City Park Mini Arena is one of Budapest's most modern handball-court-sized football field with astroturf, equipped with lighting, covered substitution benches, a stand and digital scoreboard.

The Basketball Mini Arena will likely become a favourite venue of amateur and professional basketball players. The standard basketball court had a hard rubber surface and a 4.2-meter high safety net. The sports fields can be booked through the Liget Budapest Project website.

The hard-surface basketball court is surrounded by a 4.2 meter-high ball net. (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

The courts and fields are used by schoolchildren during school hours (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

The sports centre has been planned to ensure that all new sports courts, equipment and services were accessible and safely usable by people with reduced mobility or with disabilities.

The CEO also reminded those present that the ban on changes to park development implemented by the Budapest City Council was overturned in by Parliament, allowing the development to go ahead, renewing the area with 60 trees, and thousands of bushes and shrubs.

Astroturf football field (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

The open-air gym (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

Rudolf Dombi, Olympic champion in kayaking, and Head of Priority Projects for the Hungarian Studen Sports Association told the MTI that the organisation had stayed up-to-date with the construction since the beginning and are pleased that visitors have gained access to world-class sports fields. He added that the sports centre also catered to newer sports as the terrain park includes a climbing wall and exciting courses for riders on BMX and scooters, and roller skating.

The climbing wall follows a unique, organic design (Photo Városliget Zrt.)

 Exciting courses for scooter, bikes and roller skating were also constructed (Photo Városliget Zrt.)

The terrain park is also open to visitors (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

György Láng, the headteacher of the Miklós Radnóti Training School of Eötvös Loránd University, said that staff and students in the school were excited that the sports centre had been completed. As the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies the ability to hold open-air PE lessons for students of schools in the area will be especially important.

Park development continues in City Park, further green areas are being redesigned and 200 new trees planted (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)

Benedek Gyorgyevics added that after the opening of the new sports centre, the second phase of the development of City Park will continue, and further family-, child- and sports-friendly developments will open to visitors this autumn.

The two-kilometre-long illuminated running track, a second dog playground, and a new section of the City park promenade will be completed. Alongside the renovation of the small botanical garden found within the park, 93,000 square metres of green space will be revitalised and over 200 saplings planted.

Source: MTI

Cover photo: City Park sports centre opened to the public. (Photo: Városliget Zrt.)