English
Español
Français
Deutsch
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
简体中文
The Porte de La Chapelle Arena, one of the few sports facilities built for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will be delivered about three months late, the capital’s town hall announced on Wednesday, December 7, confirming information from the Parisian.
While the initial schedule provided for delivery of the Arena in the summer of 2023, the municipality is now banking on availability “at the end of the year, in December 2023, for an opening in January 2024”, said the entourage of the sports and Olympics assistant Pierre Rabadan. A new schedule confirmed by the Olympic works delivery company (Solideo), for whom this delay “has no consequence on the Olympic calendar”confirmed a spokesperson.
Located in the north of Paris, on the border with Saint-Denis, the Adidas Arena, so named under a “naming” contract, and its 7,800 seats must host the badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events during the OJ. “Covid, supply concerns linked to the war in Ukraine and inflation” explain these “three-four months” late, according to the town hall, which holds the contracting authority.
First assumed setback of the 2024 Olympics
This is the first setback on the Olympic sites, slight delays attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic apart. This shift will however have consequences on the occupation of the complex during the pre-Olympic sports season, and in particular the organization of preparatory competitions, “test events”.
The 2023 edition of the French badminton internationals is thus maintained at the Pierre-de-Coubertin stadium (west of Paris), the discussions on the 2024 edition being ” In progress “, specifies the entourage of Pierre Rabadan. As for Paris Basketball, an elite club which was to take up residence at the Arena from the start of the 2023 school year, “it stays in Carpentier”a basic hall in the south of the capital, until the end of the works, specifies the town hall.
The municipality is studying with the operator of the Arena, the operating company of the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy (SAE POPB), and the organizing committee of the Olympic Games (Cojo) “if the club starts (to occupy the Arena) in the middle of the season” or not. This summer, the City had given an updated budget for the construction of the Arena, entrusted to a consortium led by Bouygues, of 106 million euros, plus 32 million for additional projects on the site.
But with the energy crisis, construction assistant Jacques Baudrier finds “for three to four months, a real increase in costs of 10 to 15%” as well as “one-off supply problems” on certain construction sites, which cause delays.
Source: Le Monde
