Voters in Winterthur have given a clear green light for the expansion of the Schützenwiese stadium. With 75.5 percent in favour, a credit of 35 million Swiss francs for the 38.8 million franc project was approved. The vote took place across all seven city districts, with support nowhere falling below 72.5 percent.
The stadium's capacity is set to rise from 8,700 to 9,900 seats. The project includes new covered standing terraces and a new operations and changing building with twelve rooms. Work is scheduled to start in 2027 and be completed in phases by summer 2029 to avoid disrupting match operations. Characteristic features like the Sirupkurve, the Yuri Gagarin statue and 'Salon Erika' will be preserved.
Andreas Mösli from FC Winterthur saw the result as clear validation. "The result is confirmation of the club's years of work and can be seen as a clear commitment by the public to the current stadium location," he said. The club itself called it a milestone and highlighted its focus on youth, women's and grassroots football as well as social projects.
The expansion will create additional revenue streams for the club, which currently sits 5th in the Challenge League. With 8 points from 5 games and a goal difference of +10:5, FC Winterthur has made a solid start to the season. Their next match is away to direct rivals Yverdon Sport, who are third, on November 21st. The construction progress will accompany the club's operations in the coming years as the team continues to fight for promotion places.
This story first appeared at tagesanzeiger.ch
