Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has unveiled a project that aims to breathe new life into the Olympic Athletic Centre of Athens Spiros Louis (OAKA).
The OAKA comprises five major venues and was redeveloped to serve as the hub of Athens’ staging of the 2004 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. However, the complex has since famously become the poster boy for ‘white elephant’ syndrome having been left to decay since the staging of the Games.
Stating that the Greek Government will aim to create “OAKA 2.0”, Mitsotakis has spelled out how the complex will be regenerated. Greece will tap into the European Union’s COVID-19 recovery fund, securing €43.5m (£37.3m/$51.2m) for the first stages of the project with a view to raising more than €100m in private investment to redevelop the Olympic Stadium by 2023.
Along with the Olympic Stadium (pictured), OAKA also features the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, along with an aquatics centre, velodrome and tennis centre. Covering 1,000 acres, the main goals of the new project are the creation of modern facilities for athletes and visitors, energy and operational upgrades of infrastructure and the creation of new sources of revenue.
More specifically, for the Olympic Stadium, its roof will be upgraded, having not been maintained since the staging of the Games. The stadium’s energy setup will also be improved, aiming to reduce its operating costs by more than 30%.
The aquatics centre will also be the focus of substantial redevelopment, while improvements to the velodrome aim to position it as a modern space for sports and culture, as well as a centre for education, conference, cultural and exhibition activities.
The look of the wider complex will be substantially improved, bringing in new green spaces and creating new walking, cycling and leisure routes. Mitsotakis said: “I have no doubt that the new OAKA, OAKA 2.0, will also be a living advertisement of Greece that not only do we all dream of, but that we can now achieve with self-confidence.”
The Prime Minister said the regeneration of OAKA will bring a “triple footprint” of ecological, developmental and fiscal benefits to society. Mitsotakis pointed out that even at its present state of disrepair, OAKA attracts almost 20,000 visitors every weekend, and a little less on weekdays, adding he hopes these figures can double through the regeneration.
Mitsotakis said: “But it is also an intervention that has a budgetary character. Despite the painstaking efforts of the administration, OAKA today costs the Greek taxpayer more than €7m per year.
“Our goal is for this budget to be balanced within three years, to have profits in five years, and for OAKA to be able to generate enough revenue to at least be able to support its maintenance.”
In March, Athens’ historic Panathenaic Stadium received a new lighting system which aims to significantly enhance the sustainability claims of the venue.
The new lighting system, comprising of over 3,600 LED bulbs, is designed to highlight the marble used to construct the stadium, which was home to the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and was also used as a venue for Athens’ staging of the 2004 Games.
Image: Tilemahos Efthimiadis/CC BY-SA 2.0/Edited for size
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