The Municipality of Milan has approved changes to the project which intends to deliver a new stadium for Serie A football clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan.
The revisions to the plan, requested by the Municipality, will lead to efforts intensifying to agree a process by which public consultation will take place on the project, according to the Calcio e Finanza website.
According to documents from the Municipality, the updated proposal is “an improvement over the previous one as it provides for the implementation of deep green areas, equal to approximately 50,000 square metres”.
The updated vision provided by the two clubs is also said to enhance the reconfiguration of the area as a sports district, under the ‘cathedral of sport’ banner. The revisions also provide for urbanisation works on the property, including new public green areas, footpaths, and revision of the existing road system to ensure accessibility to the underground parking that will serve the new stadium.
The project’s footprint is said to have been changed to encompass a 46,000 square metre reduction in land consumption, while a new project budget from the clubs of €1.2bn (£1.04bn/$1.22bn) has been presented, mainly due to the increase in cost of raw materials.
The Municipality said: “The updated proposal is therefore an improvement over the previous one as it provides for the implementation of deep green areas – equal to about 50,000 square metres – including public greening and the elements closely connected to it, providing a unifying role, capable of strengthening connections and the accessibility and continuity of non-urbanised areas with the built city.
“The project strengthens the reconfiguration of the area into a sports district. The so-called ‘cathedral of sport’ contemplates the expansion and improvement of the sports functions established within the interior of a new equipped urban park that will act as a link/union between the different forms of naturalness and facilities outside the perimeter.
“The equipped spaces – arranged in the proposed study at different heights and therefore accessible in different ways – will be mainly dedicated to games and/or sports and will make up about 65% of the multi-purpose section.”
Populous in December saw off competition from Manica/Sportium to land the contract to design the new stadium. Populous’ project, dubbed ‘The Cathedral’, was selected, with the coming weeks having promised the finalisation of the objectives and development process of Milan’s new stadium.
However, little progress has been made since then, with the project mired in bureaucratic red tape. Since that point, Sesto San Giovanni, a commune located to the north of Milan, is said to have been identified as a ‘plan B’ alternative location for the new stadium.
In March, the two clubs said they “remain open to evaluating other design solutions” as they continued to encounter difficulties in progressing the venture.
