Tissot Arena

Tissot Arena
Interior view of the ice hockey stadium
Earlier names
Stades de Bienne (until February 2015)
Data
place	Biel
Coordinates	588.08 thousand  /  222772 coordinates: 47 ° 9 '20.9'  N , 7 ° 16 '53.2 "  O ; CH1903:  588,080  /  222772
owner	urban
start of building	2012
opening	2015
First game	FC Biel-Bienne - FC Wil (football)
capacity	6,521 (ice rink) 5,200 (football stadium)
Societies)
FC Biel-Bienne EHC Biel

Tissot Arena is the name of an ice rink with a side field, a football stadium , a curling hall and four outdoor sports fields in the Swiss city of Biel . The groundbreaking ceremony took place on December 20, 2012, and the construction company handed over the facility at the end of July 2015. The stadiums serve as replacements for the Biel ice rink, built in 1973, and the Gurzelen football stadium , which is over a century old . The main users of the sports complex are the football club FC Biel-Bienne and the ice hockey club EHC Biel . Until February 2015, the multifunctional sports complex was called Stades de Bienne . The Swiss watch manufacturer Tissot , part of the Swatch Group , agreed on a ten-year contract with the city of Biel and the sports clubs with an option to extend and acquired the naming rights .

At the end of July 2015, HRS Real Estate AG handed over the complex, which was completed as a PPP project, to the city and thus to the associations. The official inauguration ceremony was planned for September 25, 2015. The official opening game of the football stadium took place on August 8, 2015. The Challenge League match between FC Biel-Bienne and FC Wil (0-0) saw 4,754 spectators. The ice rink was opened with a preparatory game on August 21, 2015, with EHC Biel losing 2: 3 to Dornbirn EC .

complex

The following sports facilities have been implemented.

• An ice rink for 6,521 spectators in accordance with the NLA criteria .
• A football stadium and an additional football training field with a capacity for 5,200 spectators. It meets the admission criteria of the Challenge League . In addition, minimal investments will be made, which will allow a later expansion to 10,000 places and approval for the Super League .
• four outdoor sports fields (3 of them artificial turf) with a separate cloakroom building including ancillary rooms and restaurants
• an additional covered ice surface with a panoramic view according to the guidelines of the league, homologated for games up to level 1. League / Elite
• a curling hall with six rinks

In addition to the sports facilities, several restaurants and a multifunctional, covered square (the Place Publique) of around 4200 m² will be built.

reasons

The old systems had to be replaced because they did not meet today's requirements. Specifically, this means with Gurzelen:

• the old Gurzelen grandstand is threatened with collapse (old construction, insufficient covering of the reinforcing iron in the concrete)
• the sanitary facilities are totally outdated
• the location is unfavorable (in the middle of a residential area)

at the ice rink:

• As early as 1992 clarifications showed that it is cheaper to build a new stadium than to renovate the old one
• the ceiling had to be secured with nets in 2006 because pieces of the ceiling fell onto the playing field
• the sanitary facilities are in poor condition and there are too few of them (the referee uses the same toilet as the EHC Biel fans)
• the stadium, like the football stadium, is located in a residential area

A renovation of the old stadiums was therefore out of the question.

financing

A public private partnership (PPP) was entered into to cover the costs of CHF 77 million. In addition, there are internal project costs of CHF 1.7 million. The costs are made up as follows: CHF 69.6 million for the construction of the new stadiums and CHF 9.1 million for the construction of three outdoor sports fields (including the dismantling of today's artificial ice rink and curling hall)

These costs are borne as follows:

• 25% subsidies from the canton, i.e. approx. CHF 12.0 million
• the land is ceded for CHF 42.74 million
• the sale of today's Gurzelen area (today's football stadium) approx. CHF 10.0 million
• the sale of land to Rolex CHF 14.4 million

This means that the costs can be borne in full.

The operating costs will not increase significantly despite the significantly improved infrastructure. When estimating the costs, it was assumed that FC Biel-Bienne would remain in the first division (in 2008 FCB was promoted to the Challenge League ). At EHC Biel , the National League B was assumed. (2008 rise of the EHCB in National League A )

Thanks to the multifunctionality of the stadiums, income is also expected from events (concerts, company events), catering and use of clothing, as well as an increase in ice cream rental through better infrastructure and improvement of the VIP infrastructure.

country

The land required for the construction of the sports facilities will be given to a private investor and total contractor with building rights for 99 years, who constructed the entire building complex and ceded it to the city of Biel after completion. The partner now has the opportunity to set up specialty stores and other services under the stadiums.

The total company

The total contractor was selected by a professionally qualified jury, after 4 total contractors had registered, HRS Real Estate AG (formerly HRS Hauser Rutishauser Suter AG) was awarded the contract. HRS had already implemented several major projects before, including the Stade de la Maladière in Neuchâtel, the Home of FIFA in Zurich and the AFG Arena in St. Gallen.

Time schedule

• December 9th, 2007 community vote (was approved by almost 75%)
• 2008 Submission of the building permit

From here on, planning is delayed by a year due to an objection by Migros.

• 2008–2009 intended start of work
• In 2011 planned inauguration of the stadiums and sports facilities

The construction of the stadiums has been delayed for several years.

• The groundbreaking took place on December 20, 2012
• Opening of the stadiums for the 2015/16 season.

Web links

Commons : Tissot Arena  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• tissotarena.ch: Official website
• fcbiel-bienne.ch: Tissot Arena

Individual evidence

1. ↑ “Stades de Bienne” becomes TISSOT ARENA: Partnership between the city of Biel, TISSOT and the sports clubs ( Memento of the original from February 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , tissot.ch, article from February 4, 2015 
2. ↑ stadionwelt.de: Special multifunctional sports complex article from August 8, 2015
3. ↑ bielertagblatt.ch: 0-0 in the opening game in the Tissot Arena Article from August 8, 2015
4. ↑ Martin Merk: Ici c'est Bienne! In: hockeyfans.ch. August 24, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Stades de Bienne project description. (PDF; 454 kB) Accessed December 21, 2012 . 
6. ^ Groundbreaking ceremony for the Stades de Bienne. Bieler Tagblatt , December 20, 2012, accessed on December 20, 2012 .