The sports recreational center (SRC) Šalata has one good thing going for it - it's situated on the hill. That means relatively fresh air and a relative peace and quiet - despite the proximity to the bustling city center - as well as a good panorama of the city. That's it, that's all that's good about the SRC Šalata.
It used to be green, too, back in the day, which made it a picturesque and romantic recreation haven. There used to be a gorgeous tree line that used to span the west side of the complex; narrow paths that led through a maze of lush shrubbery to various tennis courts; and a quaint cafe for the local sport afficionados to mingle before and after matches. Then the 1987 happened.
That was the year Zagreb was set to host an international sporting event called "Universiade". It's like the Olympics but for universities across the globe. It was touted here as just as important and significant an event as the Olympics itself, even though nobody could name you the respective hosts of the preceding (1985) and the subsequent (1989) Universiade. Yet, everybody pretended that it was somehow bigger than an actual Winter Olympics event held in Sarajevo three years prior.
All the sporting venues in the city chosen for the purpose had to be brought up to the international standards for the event, and Šalata was likewise deemed in need of "modernization". To that end, the year ahead of the games was spent cutting down two thirds of the westside treeline and the removal of all the lush shrubbery around the place. It was also significantly reinforced with huge ugly concrete works, including the central building, redone in notorious brutalist style of the epoch. A couple of charmless cafes and restaurants found home there. The games came and went. What was left in their wake is a concrete eyesore devoid of all the beauty that the centre once had.
So much for the aesthetics. What you can expect content-wise is the ability to indulge in a handful of sporting activities, namely tennis, swimming (in the summertime), skating (in the wintertime), and - if you're particularly adventurous: basketball and futsal on concrete paved courts. All of these are very limited in regard to available time-slots. Tennis is mostly reserved for season subscription holders. You can get an odd one-off slot mid-day, if you're lucky enough to get the guy running that segment on the phone in time. The pool and the skating rink are mostly reserved for professional athletes, so the commoners only get to have a couple of hours a week there. The footsal and basketball courts are free-for-all, so good luck there, too. The staff working at the center may not be everybody's cup of tea. Most of them are indifferent, but some of them can get quite rude, so be warned.
As I'm living nearby, I used to hang around the SRC Šalata as a kid all the time. Nowadays there really is nothing that quite pulls me there. And I'm not being an old git here: there are many wonderful places for recreation around town. Šalata just isn't one of them anymore. The place lost its magic long, long ago and I doubt it will ever bring it back. Only occasionally it gets interesting in the summer, when the skating rink becomes a venue for open-air concerts. Then it might be worthwile to drop in for a visit, but again - I live nearby, so I can hear every show quite well, without the drawback of having to pay for it and go through the security detail to enter the venue. I always remember the wise words of my bishop: "If God wanted us to go to concerts, He would've given us tickets".
2025-06-01
The T. T. E.
Google
Entire sports complex needs renovation since it’s in bad condition and it needs updates. The bathrooms are ugly inside and the pools very outdated. It would look much better after renovation. Also, the parking lots in front should be better since they’re full of cracks, holes, bumps and the lines are barely visible. Another suggestion is that smoking should be banned inside the complex as a way to improve the health of individuals, prevent the littering of cigarette butts and/or packets and ashes from falling onto the ground.
Koliko dobrih koncerata na tom zapuštenom prostoru
2025-02-13
zvonimir z. p.
Google
Najljepše mjesto
2025-02-08
Tomislav T. E.
Google
2025-02-08
Nenad N. M. T.
Google
2025-02-05
Zdenko Z. �.
Google
2025-02-04
Hana H. V.
Google
I went ice skating with a lot of other people, and the ice was brown in some places, we found a lot of rocks on the ice and the skates weren't even good for rent, most of them had their tounge coming in the foot part of the skate so it was realy uncomfortable and they weren't good for the beginners in our group because the skates didn't hold their feet up right. The 'Ledeni park' on king Tomislav's Square that is a part of Zagreb's 'Advent' has much better ice and skates and is great for beginners even though there is a giant crowd.