Hippos will continue to be for everyone: the city’s residents and clubs. It also provides a framework for top-level sport and international research and innovation in the field of sport and health.

Every year, clubs and users continue to express their wishes for facilities and slots to the city. The city will reserve and hand over the slots to the clubs. The clubs pay a deductible for their slots. At the new Hippos, the city will offer a 50% increase in sports slots compared to the current one. The operator of Hippos Ky is responsible for everything other than the city’s use slots.

An estimated 600 permanent jobs and 330 indirect jobs will be created at Hippos. Of these, about a third are entirely new jobs. In addition to this, construction is creating employment in Jyväskylä for approximately 1,110 person-workyears and indirectly 793 person-workyears.

The City Council made a decision-in-principle on the project in 2018. Since then, several decisions specifying the principles have been made, which were appealed to the Administrative Court and the Supreme Administrative Court. The appeals were rejected and the Supreme Administrative Court did not grant leave to appeal in early 2023. 

As the complaints have been dropped, the city will clarify the continuation of the project with the financiers. The City is committed to taking the project forward, but recognises that costs have risen significantly from the baseline due to higher interest rates and construction costs, for example.

If the Hippos project does not proceed as planned, the renovation of existing facilities or the construction of new facilities will require a completely new planning and decision-making process.

The aim is to provide residents with healthy, functional and safe premises. The existing facilities are in such poor condition that their repair is not economically viable. In addition to this, the inclusion of technology that meets current standards (e.g. air conditioning, VSS facilities) in old buildings would in practice reduce the space available at the sports facilities. The new facilities can also be used in a more versatile way than the old ones, which gives more opportunities for more hobby clubs.

The new premises will include higher education institutions’ teaching and research facilities, the Centre of Expertise in Physical Activity and Well-being, and facilities for international top-level research. In the old premises, the needs of these operators cannot be met either.

Ky, or limited partnership, is a typical form of real estate ownership. The City of Jyväskylä and new investors (Sepos and Taaleri Sijoitus) are represented in the company. Correspondingly, of the 12 or so major sports facility construction projects currently underway in Helsinki, only two are of owned by the city.

As part of the project, investors will receive the right to purchase approximately 24,000 floor square metres of residential plots from the city. Some of the building rights are located in Hippos, some in Kivelänranta and some in an as-yet unspecified area. This is a right to purchase plots of land, in which case the plots are sold at the normal price level of the city. For the city, this is not a financial commitment, but a contribution to the start of the project. The transfer of plots of land is subject to the same normal city conditions as other land buyers.

Hippos is planned to have accommodation. Accommodation is being negotiated on and takes into account the reasonable accommodation costs for sports clubs and athletes. Due to COVID-19, the hospitality and hotel industries are wary of starting new projects.

The number of buses and pedestrian and cycling routes will be increased. Driving in the area will be reduced. Parking spaces for 830 cars will be built in the area. Jyväs-Parkki Oy is responsible for parking. The neighbouring Valmet needs more parking spaces during the day and the Hippos users need more parking spaces in the evenings and at weekends.

• Community centre in 1979, repairs to technology in 1998, 2009–11 and 2013–14.
• Hippos Hall in 1991, extension in 2011–12. In addition to this, the facilities of the training halls were improved in 2009–13.
• Office wing of the competitive ice arena in 1970, ice arenas in 1982, extension and renovation in 2008.

These buildings will remain in the ownership of the city. Their further use is being investigated by sports services. The challenge is the poor condition of the buildings and the functionality of transport in the area.