Feature

French court gives green light to Roland Garros revamp

France’s highest administrative jurisdiction, the Conseil d’Etat, has cleared the way for renovation work to finally begin at Roland Garros, the home of the French Open tennis grand slam.

The court overturned an earlier ruling that had put the long-awaited development project on hold.

The scheme will include a new roof over centre court by 2020 and a new 5,000-seat court in the Serres d’Auteuil botanical garden. Environmental groups had opposed the development of the latter, claiming that the expansion of the site into the botanical garden would harm vegetation and wildlife.

Roland Garros is currently the smallest of the four grand slam venues. Major building work has taken place at two of the other three venues – Wimbledon in London and Flushing Meadows in New York – in recent years.

The Paris site will be expanded from 21 acres to about 34 acres under the revamp, which will be overseen by the FFT, the governing body of tennis in France.

“The FFT sees its arguments endorsed by France’s highest jurisdiction and once again obtains confirmation of the legal solidity of its project,” the French Tennis Federation said.

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