Campeonato Brasileiro Série A football club Fluminense has signed agreements for the redevelopment of Estádio das Laranjeiras, its historic former home stadium.
First opened in 1919, the facility in Rio de Janeiro state is regarded as a pioneer as the first cement stadium in Latin America. It is also known as the stadium where the Brazilian national team has never lost.
Fluminense now calls the Estádio do Maracanã home, as one of the iconic venue’s two main tenants alongside Série A rival Flamengo. However, the club plans to revamp Laranjeiras into a stadium that can hold just over 7,000 spectators and be suitable to host Fluminense matches.
To this end, the club has signed contracts with architectural firm Apiacás and the Institute for the Development of Sport and Culture (IDEC) to redevelop both the stadium and its headquarters. As the club’s headquarters is a listed heritage building, IDEC will work alongside the State Institute of Cultural Heritage (INEPAC) for the redevelopment project.
Fluminense is reportedly hoping that work can begin in October ahead of delivery in 2024. The club is said to be seeking to host low-key Campeonato Carioca state championship games at the revamped Laranjeiras.
Fluminense president, Mário Bittencourt, said: “I’m very happy with this progress. It’s a dream of the fans and the most important thing is for it to be a down-to-earth project. It is useless to have the illusion of creating a great work, which cannot be done. What can be done is to offer a safe place for the fans.”
Anderson Freitas, a partner at Apiacás, added: “A project like this is interesting and welcome because it was thought of by the club’s board, who understood it as a program that needed to be thought through calmly.
“It’s not a space that just needs to be restored, it needs to be rethought, reprogrammed and this goes beyond a simple revitalisation, within new safety and modernisation norms.”
Image: Alexandre Magno Barreto Berwanger/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size
