The Government of Paraná has announced the expropriation of the site housing the now dormant Estádio do Pinheirão with the goal of transforming it into Brazil’s largest events complex.
First opened in 1985, the 45,000-capacity stadium in Paraná’s capital city, Curitiba, has sat abandoned since 2007. It had previously hosted Athletico Paranaense and Paraná football games, along with matches of the Brazilian national team
The Governor of Paraná, Carlos Massa Ratinho Junior, announced the expropriation plan. He said: “After a long period of inactivity and little use, we expropriated the Estadio Pinheirão to build the largest and most modern events centre in Brazil.
“The project was designed by Paraná Projetos and includes an events arena, an exhibition centre for up to 25,000 people and an entire commercial complex, with a hotel sector and a boulevard with restaurants and a gym.”

Ratinho Junior explained that the Pinheirão project intends to be the first step in a major revitalisation scheme for the region with the goal of further increasing tourism.
He continued: “It will be a place for major events, shows, meetings and exhibitions, and the idea is to make this complex a major attraction for events aimed at more and more tourists, which means more money for our businesses, restaurants, hotels, and the service sector that generates a lot of jobs for our people.”
The Government said the venture will commence with the publication of a decree that compensates the current owner of the Pinheirão. In 2012, businessman João Destro bought the land at auction for more than R$57m (£7.72m/€9.26m/$10.02m). On Wednesday, he told Globo he is yet to be contacted by the state government and estimates that, today, the land has a value of R$600m.
The Government has forecast an investment of over R$1bn in the former Pinheirão. Secretary of State for Planning, Guto Silva, said: “The market for symposiums, congresses, cultural, artistic and sporting events generates a lot of money every year, and Paraná does not have a structure of this size to participate in this.
“With this idea, we will boost tourism, enhance our services and bring thousands of new tourists to the state every year. It is an innovative model, within a PPP (public-private partnership), and it will greatly help our economy.”