Planning principles for the Kokon sports center and sub-units in the first phase
The City Council unanimously decided to approve the planning principles for the Kokon Sports Center and its subdivisions in the first phase on 30 March 2022. The City Council decided to approve adding the words “taking into account the number of users” to the decision.
1. Planning principles
With the help of the development of the Kokon Sports Center, the city strongly supports the development of the Västra åstranden in terms of developing Kokonbacken's leisure, tourism and recreation activities into a functioning whole and connecting the area to Gammelbacka.
A clear identity for the Kokon sports centre must be formed, which is why it is extremely important that the area has a high-quality facade facing Tolkisvägen. The location of the multi-purpose arena in the area strongly defines the formation of an identity for the area. The area will continue to contain places and sites that were built in different time periods and that are connected to part of the whole. The different activities must support each other when this is possible considering the cityscape.
The area should include non-commercial indoor and outdoor spaces, places for independent exercise with a low threshold that are easy to reach, and accessible places.
The relationship to the open landscape space must be carefully resolved.
The cultural offering in the area should also be developed by offering frameworks for events on a regional scale.
Prerequisites for climate work in the construction of large sports buildings will be investigated, among other things, by assessing the benefits of wood construction and energy efficiency in the longer term.
The city is preparing to investigate the necessary reservations of spaces to supplement the range of services in the area. Such activities could include, for example, a covered full-scale artificial ice rink or a bandy hall, an indoor gym, a sauna, a dog agility course, a ski cross course, a roller skiing course, outdoor courts for racket games and basketball.
Traffic should be smooth and safe with all means of transport. The routes for pedestrian and bicycle traffic should be developed to make the area accessible to all users regardless of age. The parking capacity in the area should be dimensioned sufficiently high in relation to the identifiable need for car and bicycle spaces.
2.Parts of the first phase
The project plan to be prepared for the first phase of the Kokon Sports Center includes the following sub-projects as a single project, taking into account the number of participants:
Refreshing outdoor areas, which includes at least new outdoor trails, a high-quality outdoor gym, a playground, beach volleyball courts, plans for small games, rebuilding and possibly expanding the outdoor skating area, renewing the outdoor swimming pool (rebuilding, improving the soil and water quality, the site must be made accessible) and other landscaping in the core area.
A new ice sports arena (ice hall). The current premises will be replaced taking into account the needs of sports clubs and the level requirements of competitive and club matches.
A heated artificial turf field.
A central arena (multi-activity arena) with training and competition facilities for ball games, indoor athletics training, exercise and cardio training. The possibility of organizing concerts, fairs and events is taken into account.
A hobby arena with a low threshold that has facilities for young people, seniors and association activities, among other things. The arena will be created either by renovating Kokonhallen or by building completely new premises for hobbies. Special emphasis is placed on making the premises accessible.
A hall for racket games.
The City Council unanimously decided to approve the City Board's proposal to form a project company for the Kokon sports center.
SFP fullmäktigegruppens riktlinjer för Kokonområdets utveckling
Feb 2022
The development of Kokon is important for SFP in Porvoo. It is a large project that must be planned with a holistic approach from the beginning. In the future, the Kokon area will benefit both everyday exercisers and top athletes from young to old. Kokon will be accessible to all residents and will be financed largely by public funds. The price level for the associations' activities will be kept at a reasonable level. The city will be an active player in Kokon also in the future.
The council group's guidelines have been prepared by council members Johnny Holmström, Hilding Mattsson, Emilia Mattsson, Malin Lönnroth and Anders Rosengren in collaboration with the entire SFP council group in Porvoo.
Financing
The social and health care reform will have a major impact on the city's economy. Therefore, the SFP council group believes that it is important for the city to carefully consider the financing of the Cocoon Project. Initially, SFP is prepared for the city to spend 25-30 million on the Cocoon Project, as currently budgeted for a five-year period. The construction project can also continue after five years if there is funding for it. In order to achieve the most functional overall system possible that benefits the needs of all exercisers, we believe that external financing is also needed for the Cocoon Project.
The SFP council group wants to see external actors, associations and private individuals participate in the financing of the project in order to achieve the best and most diverse concept possible. In order to attract external financiers, the SFP council group proposes that the city build a model where public funds are increased as external funding is successfully attracted. The more external funding is collected, the more we are prepared to increase the city's funding and level of service! The city cannot offer the high-quality sports halls that have been desired with tax money alone.
The planning costs for Kokon are high, but when we consider the entire project budget, the costs are only a fraction. Therefore, the SFP council group wants the City of Porvoo to hire a person with overall responsibility for managing and implementing the financing for Kokon. The employee's task is to build the model for external financing and at the same time act as a coordinator for fundraising and for collecting external financing. In addition, he or she has overall responsibility for coordinating the Kokon project. The SFP council group believes that the employment period should begin as soon as possible and that reporting should be made to the city council. We want to see a clear financing model before we can decide on everything that will be included in the new Kokon area. Porvoo will also actively apply for government funding to the extent possible.
In addition, the SFP council group believes that it is important to investigate the city's current operating costs for sports services in order to get a comprehensive picture of what they cost now and what investments the sports services need in the future, except in Kokon. We politicians need these calculations as a basis for comparison with the preliminary calculated operating costs for the new Kokon area. At the same time, the city should consider the division of labor between the local management, local services and sports services in the new Kokon area.
Operation
Although the SFP council group does not at this stage want to finally determine everything that will be included in the Cocoon Project before the financing model is complete, the group agrees on what will form the basis for the whole thing.
The outdoor areas are a resource and it is important that they provide opportunities for various activities with low thresholds. The appearance of the Cocoon area should also fit into Porvoo as a national city park. Traffic solutions are important so that accessibility is good while not at the expense of outdoor activities.
The Kokon area should include an ice rink that replaces the current ones that have served their time both in terms of function and technology.
A central arena, i.e. a ball/multi-purpose arena, forms the heart of the project. The central arena will have a grandstand capacity that clearly exceeds the current capacity in Kokonhallen and Konstfabriken. This will benefit exercisers, associations in Porvoo and organizers of various events. In addition, the arena will have facilities for practicing sports that currently lack year-round training opportunities, such as athletics.
The council group wants the current Kokonhallen to be transformed into a low-threshold exercise arena, in the plan called a youth arena , with many different types of activities for our residents. A center with a relaxed atmosphere and spaces for many different hobbies. Here we would like to see activities for our young people, activities that are not yet offered today.
The area should also provide opportunities for the practice of racket sports. Here and in all activities, care should be taken to ensure that there is no unhealthy competition with private players.
The SFP council group believes that alternatives for planning a bandy hall in the Kokon area should still be investigated. The area also offers good opportunities for this.
During construction, we demand that there be no interruptions to current activities, and because of this, we accept a longer time for the conversion of old spaces into new ones. A large investment in the Kokon area must also not mean that the city does not invest in other exercise in other parts of the city in the meantime. All exercise in Porvoo should not be concentrated in the Kokon area.
Sustainable development, that is, economic, social and ecological sustainability, is important to take into account already in the planning stage and in the overall picture of the new Cocoon area.
