Poland picks designer for Euro 2012 stadium

Poland has chosen a German-Polish consortium to design its new national stadium, which will host the opening match of the 2012 European Championship.

Sports Minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki said Thursday that JSK Architects will design the new arena in Warsaw because of its experience in "more than 20 stadium projects" worldwide.

The stadium is to seat 55,000, and is scheduled to open in 2011.

Poland is co-hosting Euro 2012 with neighboring Ukraine and both countries face the challenge of building stadiums and upgrading dilapidated infrastructure.

Drzewiecki said he expected the stadium design to be ready in six months, and the ministry estimates the cost of the entire project to be 1 billion zlotys (US$408 million; €273 million).

A contractor still has to be selected to build the stadium, which will be located on the eastern bank of the Vistula River in the Polish capital.

The Euro 2012 final will be held at Kiev's redeveloped Olympic Stadium.

source: iht.com