Tsarevo's town stadium opens a new Olympic-size athletics track today at 5pm. The upgrade cost more than €0.82m (1.6m leva), paid from the Sports Ministry's national programme for co-funding sports projects.

"The track is Olympic size – one of the few in our region and in Bulgaria as a whole," Tsarevo mayor Marin Kirov told Bulgarian National Radio.

The track has a new Tartan surface. All the lighting at the stadium and on the track has been replaced, so both can be used in winter too, when it gets dark earlier. Kirov said the idea is to use the facility all year round, and the track will certainly host national competitions and championships.

The project was submitted in December last year. A contractor was chosen, work began in May, and the build took only four months.

The opening will include a big sports festival with local sports clubs, schoolchildren and sports fans.

The track is part of a complex that includes a stadium and a modern sports hall, which is still being built. The mayor said the complex should draw sports tourism next season and throughout the year.

Tsarevo council said the facilities are professional and high-grade, but the stadium and track will also be open to residents and visitors of Tsarevo if they follow strict rules.

"If payments keep coming on schedule, the hall will be ready and can open at the end of next year," Kirov said.