Architect Carlos Arcos, responsible for drawing up the basic and executive projects for the Arena da Baixada, forecasts that the construction work for the adaptation of the World Cup stadium in Curitiba, bringing it into line with FIFA requirements, shall start within one month and a half, on October 1.
The start of the refurbishment shall also mean that the field used by Atlético Paranaense shall have to be closed. This means that the club shall have to find a new ground to play their home matches in the Brazilian League, which shall only finish at the start of December.
The options include the Couto Pereira Stadium, of city rivals Coritiba, and the Durival de Britto Stadium that shall also need refurbishment of at least R$ 10 million, probably paid for by Atlético Paranaense itself.
According to Mr. Arcos, if the refurbishment of the Arena does not start at the beginning of October, it shall be very unlikely that Curitiba shall be able to host the Confederations Cup. This event, which tests the infrastructure for the forthcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup™, starts in June 2013.
“The start of the work could even be brought forward, but I think a delay is highly unlikely”, the architect said, during the 6th Forum of World Cup Architects, held by the Portal 2014 this Friday (August 12) in São Paulo.
According to the FIFA schedule, the refurbishment of the Atlético Paranaense ground should have started in 2010. However, the definition of the model of financing for this work only took place two weeks ago. Instead of hiring the services of a subcontractor, the Board members decided to leave the work in the hands of the former Club president, Mário Celso Petraglia.
However, this decision has stirred up doubts even within the Board that, this week sent an official document requesting financial and technical details of the proposal. Mr. Petraglia says that the total budget for this project shall be in the region of R$ 180 million.
The Club Board denies that the work is running behind schedule and backs up this view by the fact that 70% of the stadium already complies with the FIFA requirements. Mr. Arcos, however, says that only 45% of the Arena is ready for the World Cup. At present, the schedule prepared by the architect plans for between 16 and 17 months’ work.
The stadium shall have new stands in the West Sector, with some 10 thousand seats, this also being the place where there shall be concentration of dressing rooms, VIP sections and Press areas. The Arena shall also have a metallic cover for the World Cup and the elimination of a lift pit in the East Sector which generates some blind spots in the stands.
The architect says that 90% of the executive project is ready. “Between September and October of last year, all the projects were hired together, including architecture and the complementary projects, with the sole exception of IT (Information Technology), as FIFA only passed the requirements in February. The IT project is now 80% complete”.
Despite the advanced stage of the projects, the political wrangling seems to be sapping the patience of those responsible for the organization thereof.
“The project is born with 45% of the stadium complete, but this has had its pros and cons. As one part of the work has already been completed, this means that the decisions for the project to press on are not taken”, says Mr. Arcos.
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04/05 | News
