The yard of Ungheni’s former boarding school is being transformed, stage by stage, into a sports facility. The district president, Dionisie Ternovschi, has published a video report from the Educational Centre’s construction site, with a title to match the footage: “Our grounds come to life.” In frame — a mini-football pitch already full of children and a second court, under construction, where the tiles are being laid.
What has been done and what is being done
The first court — the mini-football pitch, with synthetic turf — is already in use. These days it is used by the children of the “Prietenia” summer camp, held on the grounds of the District Sports School. “It is a great joy for us when we see that our investments come to life,” Ternovschi says in the report, pointing to the pitch.
That pitch was built in 2024 with a €50,000 contribution from the Maramureș County Council, in Romania — a long-standing partner of Ungheni district. Work is now under way on the next stage: according to the president, the changing rooms are ready, stands have been built, and the badminton and pickleball courts are “in the final stretch.”
How much it costs and who pays
On the site, a project board — bearing the logo of the District Council and of “the Ungheni Region” — lists Ungheni District Council, alongside external donors, as the funder, with 2026 as the year of completion. For this stage, the board indicates a value of about 1.77 million lei; the exact amount and its breakdown by categories of work have not, so far, been made public by the District Council.
The investment is part of a larger project. The rehabilitation of the Educational Centre’s outdoor spaces — laid out on the grounds of the former boarding school — includes, besides the sports courts, a changing room and leisure areas, and the total value of the outdoor works exceeds 10 million lei, carried out in stages from the district budget, according to Ungheni District Council.
A niche sport and a building with a history
Beyond the figures, two things are worth saying. First: pickleball — a racket sport booming worldwide but still rare in Moldova — is arriving in a public educational institution in Ungheni. Second: a building with a heavy history, the former boarding school, is being reconverted into a space open to the community. “It will be a place of leisure and of doing sport for all the citizens of our district,” Ternovschi says.
It remains to be seen when the badminton and pickleball courts will officially open — in the report they are described as almost ready, with no announced completion date — and how the more than 10 million lei invested in the Educational Centre’s outdoor spaces break down by works.
The topic stems from the video report published by the president of Ungheni district, Dionisie Ternovschi, and shared by the District Council. The existence and content of the project (sports pitch, changing room, badminton and pickleball courts) are confirmed by the official page of the District Council. The €50,000 co-financing of the mini-football pitch is confirmed by the Maramureș County Council’s statement. The value of about 1.77 million lei for the pickleball and badminton stage comes from a construction-site board visible in the report and has not yet been officially confirmed; the total value of over 10 million lei for the outdoor works is indicated by the District Council.