Stadion RKS Skra (RKS Skra Stadium) is a historic football and athletics stadium in

Mokotów Field Mokotów Field (Polish: ''Pole Mokotowskie'') is a large park in Warsaw, Poland. A part of the parkland is called Józef Piłsudski Park. Located between Warsaw's Mokotów district and the city center, the park is one of the largest in Warsaw. ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. It is currently used mostly for

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

matches as the home stadium of

Skra Warsaw Skra is a settlement in Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately east-south-east of the state capital Kuching. Neighbouring settlements include: *Setumbin northwest *Bijat northwest *Simanggang Simanggang is a town and the capital of Sri ...

. The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 people, but has been closed since October 2019.

History

The Sports Workers' and Academic Clubs (Sportowy Klub Robotniczo-Akademicki aka ‘SKRA’) was established in 1921, with football, boxing and fencing sections. In the early 20s they were granted land and built a stadium near the Jewish Cemetery. During World War II it was within the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

and was the site of mass executions including at least 6,500 Jews, now commemorated by the Monument of Jews and Poles Common Martyrdom. The remains were reburied in the

Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery The Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery ( pl, Cmentarz Powstańców Warszawy) is located at 174/176 Wolska Street in the Wola district of Warsaw. It was established in 1945 and occupies . It is the largest burial site of victims of the Warsaw Uprisi ...

. Another sports club,

KS Warszawianka Klub Sportowy Warszawianka is a Polish multi-sport club from Warsaw. It has several sections, including handball, track and field, fencing and tennis, and in the past it had several more, including a football team which competed in the Polish ...

had established facilities for football and athletics at the

, and this site was taken over by Skra after the war. Heavily damaged, it was completely rebuilt in 1948-53, with a horseshoe shaped stadium with a capacity for 35,000, as well as volleyball and basketball courts, tennis courts, and a training football pitch. The stadium was designed by M. Kokozow and J. Wasilewski, a rare example of postwar Polish Modernism, built before the classicist Stalinist style was imposed in the early 50s. The sites were upgraded in the 60s to include a hotel with a canteen, a doctor's office, a sauna, a gymnasium. a training stadium and a swimming pool complex. 2012-05-Stadion

The Museum of Physical Culture and Tourism was moved here in 1966, relocated again in 2005 as the Sports and Tourism Museum.

Closure

After the regime change Skra, who owned the facility, was unable to maintain it. Several attempts to invite private investors in exchange for commercial space were stopped by the city of Warsaw, arguing the site could only serve sports. As a result Skra lost the freehold of its stadium in 2015. Falling further into disrepair, the stadium was forced to close due to safety concerns in October 2019, and the seating area began to sprout weeds. The athletics track is still in use, as are the other facilities.

References

Rugby union stadiums in Poland Sports venues in Warsaw

Stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Holocaust locations in Poland {{Poland-sports-venue-stub Trivia:. It's used in the Netflix serie 1983