Greece reveals multimillion renovation plan for Athens Olympic Stadium

The complete modernisation of the Athens Olympic Sports Centre will cost over EUR 43.5 million

At a press conference on 20 July, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis revealed the country’s “Master Plan” for the upgrade and renovation of the Athens Olympic Sports Centre “Spiros Louis”. According to Mitsotakis, the centre has not been renovated since the 2004 Olympic Games. Now, the new plan seeks to modernise the establishment and make it more sustainable.  

A renovation worth over EUR 43.5 million

Following the outbreak of the pandemic, the European Commission introduced the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) as a means of helping EU member states recover from the negative impacts of COVID. On Tuesday, Mitsotakis explained that the renovation of the Athens Olympic Sports Centre is one of the top 10 projects in the country’s National Recovery Plan.

Therefore, the country will receive EUR 43.5 million from its Recovery and Resilience Fund “Greece 2.0” for the implementation of the project. In addition to this, the Prime Minister further highlighted that the renovation will also be financed by private investments.

Focusing on modernisation and sustainability

Currently, the Athens Olympic Sports Centre covers an area of 1,000 acres and consists of various separate stadiums, tracks, etc. Moreover, it records approximately 17,000 visitors a day and over 20,000 visitors during the weekends.

The Master Plan now seeks to create more modern facilities and renovate the existing stadiums, tracks, and centres. Beyond this, it envisions the replacement of existing materials with ones that are environmentally friendly and sustainable as well as the creation of more green areas. In this way, the Master Plan will transform the Athens Olympic Sports Centre into the Olympic Park of Athens.

Commenting on the project, Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports Lefteris Avgenakis explained: “The facilities will become modern and non-energy consuming, ideal for the sports development of the country. The cultural value of the spaces will be highlighted, the environmental footprint will be strengthened, the efficient operation of the centre will be initiated.

The new and modern centre will be the leader in the digital transformation, it will serve the sustainable development, thanks to the improved energy footprint, it will honour its great cultural heritage and it will be an Olympic Park, for the entire athletic family, open to society. With this vision, we consistently continue our sports reform.”

It is hoped that within the next five years, the planned developments will result in a profitability increase of 25%, the creation of 1,400 permanent jobs, and a rise in visitors to 40,000 people per day.