Greece's neglected former Olympic venue to get major revamp by 2023

Lamda Development SA

20/07/2021 20:43

ATHENS, July 20 (Reuters) - Greece on Tuesday unveiled a
plan to tap European Union and private funds for a revamp of its
biggest sports complex, which hosted the 2004 Olympic Games but
had been left deteriorating since then.
    Covering a 250-acre plot, the Olympic Athletic Center of
Athens (OAKA), which houses Greece's largest football pitch and
other sports venues, has been incurring losses and cost the
state 200 million euros ($235.66 million) in maintenance since
2005, according to the government.
    The famed roof over the football pitch, which was designed
by award-winning architect Santiago Calatrava for the 2004
Summer Olympics, has been wearing out, Prime Minister Kyriakos
Mitsotakis told a small audience gathered for a presentation of
the stadium's overhaul.
    "I am delighted that after almost 20 years of inaction, this
government has been able to invest the necessary funding to
create a sustainable, state of the art sporting facility,"
Mitsotakis said.
    His conservative government, which took office in 2019, has
committed to a series of urban redevelopment projects in Athens
to spur investment and create jobs. 
    Ground down after a protracted financial crisis, Greece
hopes that funds from the European Union's post-pandemic
recovery fund will help it pull its economy out of a
coronavirus-induced recession.
    The government will tap more than 40 million euros from that
fund along with an expected additional private investment of
more than 100 million euros to overhaul the stadium by 2023,
Mitsotakis said.
    The presentation of the plan came a month after Greek
developer Lamda Development  LMDr.AT  acquired the rights to the
site of the former Athens airport, clearing the way for Greece's
largest ever urban redevelopment project.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2O72B8


($1 = 0.8487 euros)

 (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 2102214608;
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net))