Racing Genk has now officially presented the plans for its new training complex. The H.Essers Training Center is a state-of-the-art structure and should help the Limburg club grow further. Cost: 20 million euros. Construction will start next year, and Genk hopes to put the complex into use in 2026.
Total training site area: 43,305 m.2.
Total training center surface: 6006 m2 + basement of 810 m2
Three training fields: two hybrid and heated grass fields, one natural grass field
In the shadow of the Cegeka Arena, Racing Genk has started the preparatory works for the new training complex for the first team. With the modern complex, the club wants to take the next step in the further growth of the club. Transport giant H.Essers links its name to the new training complex. The foundation stone of the H.Essers Training Center will be laid in the autumn of 2024. The move is planned for 2026. The Training Center, together with the Jos Vaessen Talent Academy, will be part of the H.Essers Talent Park.
“We are giving the starting signal for what we started in 2017,” says chairman Peter Croonen. “It fits into a broader master plan. A youth and ladies stadium will also be built where the youth A-field is now. In terms of volume it is slightly smaller. Ultimately, there is the renovation and expansion of the Cegeka Arena, which will leave you with an important investment plan until 2030. With our master plan we want to create a football axis and a business axis. We are making the shortcut to the nearby Thor Park.”
Croonen calls the H.Essers Training Center the most beautiful in Belgium. “Architecturally it is a gem. That was a requirement, because we really have to embed it in nature. It will also be great in terms of content. Everything from performance and rehabilitation is involved, so that recuperating players will always remain connected to the group. We will currently have a top-level training infrastructure.”
70 million
The new training complex of KRC Genk, which recently presented a record turnover of 88.4 million euros, has a price tag of 20 million euros. Blauw-wit has budgeted 70 million euros for the total master plan. “In this way we want to bring all our football activities, from the youth, over the ladies to the first team, together on one site, in the shadow of the Waterschei slag heap. No other club in our country can do that,” adds CEO Erik Gerits.
The club looked at 35 locations, but arrived at Opglabbekerzavel, a stone’s throw from its own stadium. In the summer the club carried out various nature compensation projects. Genk is currently going to the market to look for a contractor. “This new training center will be in complete harmony with the surrounding nature,” says architect Peter Cornoedus of PCp Architects. “To such an extent that the hard boundary between building and nature will completely fade.”
“One third of the first of two floors will be overgrown by the surrounding nature. Because we have chosen to locate the building 50 meters from the Opglabbekerzavel, we create a ‘front garden’ of approximately 7,000 square meters. This building will be an example of modern architecture where we prove that nature and architecture are not opposites, but can form a beautiful synergy.”
© KRC Genk © KRC Genk
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