The Italian city of Venice has opened a tender process for the planned $333m Bosco dello Sport project that will include a new stadium for Venezia FC and indoor arena.
City chiefs want the entire Sports Forest project, which would also include completion of the new Tessera Aeroporto road network, to be completed by June 2026 “in conjunction with the Olympics” which is to be staged in Milan earlier that year. The cost of the work will mostly be met by the Municipality of Venice, with around €90m of the €300m+ budget coming from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
The calls for tenders will be published for the five strands of the project between now and the end of February 2023, with the awarding of the works to take place by the end of July 2023. The strands include the stadium, indoor arena, internal urbanisation works, airport road network.
The complex will feature a 16,000-seat stadium for the local second tier Serie B football club and will also look to host rugby. Some €82.7m has been allocated for the construction of the stadium – which is almost 20km from the team’s historic Stadio Pierluigi Penzo ground – with €39.9m coming from the Municipality of Venice and €42.8m from PNRR.
The indoor arena will cost €108.0m and have a capacity of 10,000 spectators for sporting events and 12,000 for entertainment configuration.
“It is a historic moment for the city,” said Mayor Luigi Brugnaro. “It is a work that brings together the maximum of technology and attention to the environment. The Bosco dello Sport will be the engine of urban regeneration and revitalisation of Venice and the Veneto. With the construction of the arena and the new stadium, Venice is a candidate to host sporting events of great international appeal.”
The new Bosco dello Sport will be 4km from the centre of Favaro, 7.7km from Mestre and 9.5km from Marghera. The green and landscape works will envelop the entire area for a total extension of 57 hectares, 25 of which around the sports areas. New cycle paths, measuring 6.1km, will also be built inside the Bosco dello Sport.
Venice City Council approved investment of €283.5m last year after unveiling plans for a €333.8m investment scheme.
Venezia currently plays at the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo, which opened in 1913 and is notable through its primary means of access being by boat. Upgrades to the Penzo were made for the club’s return to Serie A in 2021, although they were relegated at the end of last season.
