Work on a project to deliver a new 10,000-seat football stadium and a 4,000-capacity arena in the Swiss city of Lugano is set to begin on July 3.
The stadium will serve as the home of Swiss Super League football club FC Lugano and is scheduled to open in 2025, while the arena will be finished by 2026. Preliminary works are currently taking place, with the first stage of construction to commence next month.
The new stadium will replace FC Lugano’s Stadio di Cornaredo. The east stand of the Cornaredo will be demolished next month and a temporary facility with a capacity of 4,872 seats will come into operation.
FC Lugano has asked the Swiss Football League to postpone its first home match of the season so that the temporary stadium can be built in time. FC Lugano has played at the Stadio di Cornaredo since 1951.
The project is being delivered by the Polo Sportivo e degli eventi (PSE) venture. The citizens of Lugano voted in favour of PSE in November 2021 after a fiercely contested referendum process on the matter came to a head.
The City of Lugano has teamed up with Swiss real estate group HRS on the project, which will also include four residential buildings and two towers for the city administration and municipal companies in the Cornaredo district.
The venture has been projected to cost CHF374m (£327m/€381m/$417m). The arena will serve as the home of ice hockey team HC Lugano, which currently plays at the Cornèr Arena.
