Outdoor facilities "Am Eisteich" in Hof

The city of Hof is renovating the open spaces around the "Am Eisteich" indoor skating rink and is putting them to recreational and sports-oriented use. An attractive outdoor recreation area is being created for all generations, which will expand the city's range of sports and exercise facilities to include as broad a user group as possible. A skate park with a pump track, a fitness park and a multifunctional field will be built as sports areas within view of the Saale, which will function according to the operating model "free and outside". In order to meet the needs of both the skateboard user group, which is characterised by a rather low-threshold basic concept, and the BMX and stunt scooter users, the bowl area will be divided into two parts in a northern and southern orientation at the front sides of the street area. Separated into a small track for children and beginners and a longer track, the pump track area will benefit users of all ages. A multi-sport area created for the clubs can be connected to the existing summer stick shooting track as a streetball field and thus also be available for basketball players outside the use by stick shooters.

A 4-metre-wide asphalted promenade runs parallel to the Saale as a route for inline skaters and cyclists in a scenic location. A canoe landing stage with a connecting path to the open space is being built on the banks of the Saale. Benches and seating steps along the Saale and the ice pond or a pavilion as weather protection near the Saale invite visitors to linger. The pathway connects to the existing path in the north in the direction of Theresienstein; this also applies to the southern connection in the direction of the core city and the Saale cycle path. Bike racks are available along the barrier-free footpath and cycle path.

The redesign of the straightened Lettenbach stream in the southern part of the planning area into a near-natural stream course, together with the revitalised ice pond, creates a hydraulic engineering connection to the Saale and strengthens the urban ecology on site. Parts of the open space are located in the floodplain of the Saxon Saale. The planned sports and skate facilities are and will be spared the flood risk of HQ100. The drained ice pond will be transformed into an ecologically valuable system and thus into another meeting place with high recreational value.

The Lettenbach will be restored to a varied and structurally strong width and depth and planned with gravel and natural armourstones of various shapes and grain sizes in combination with sprouting trees and shrubs. Rootstocks, tree trunks, wicker fences, willow cuttings and structural stones represent natural materials for the design of the Lettenbach, which are obtained directly on site or from the region.

The planting concept is oriented towards near-natural plantings of primarily native and climate change-adapted plant species. Along the paths there are various deciduous trees planted in a varied manner, which structure and frame the park as a space. The trees provide shade in irregular positions on the green spaces on hot summer days. The greenery of the open space is completed by lawns, flowering meadows, grasses and perennials in the shore area at the ice pond.