Colombes relies on the “Olympic Games effect” to consolidate its investments in sports equipment

by time news

2023-07-13 18:18:49

Surprises there have been, but, in the end, the schedule should be kept. This is the assurance given by Patrick Chaimovitch, the mayor (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts) of Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine), about the communal swimming pool, chosen to be the training center for artistic swimming delegations during the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) and which, in this perspective, is undergoing a complete renovation.

“We had a lot of surprises on the construction site,” started in May 2022, explains the elected official, evoking the presence of asbestos and rusty ironwork requiring the fixing of the structures to be resumed. “We have reviewed the schedules, the human resources have been reinforced and it will be delivered on time”, nevertheless advances Mr. Chaimovich. The provision of the structure for the Games is scheduled for June 2024.

This swimming pool is part of the equipment that will constitute the “material heritage” of the Games, highlighted by the organizers of the event. The renovation operation will cost 40.3 million euros, including 34.5 million for the city and 2.3 million for Solideo, the public company in charge of the Olympic works, the rest to be financed by the Métropole du Grand Paris and by the region (which has still not confirmed its contribution of 800,000 euros).

After the Games, the city of Colombes aims to make this swimming pool a regional training center for artistic swimming. “There are discussions in this direction with the federation”says Chaimovich.

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Around 80 million euros of investments

The historic Yves du Manoir stadium, the very one where the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games took place in 1924, currently being renovated, will also benefit from this “Olympic heritage”: with a capacity of With a capacity of 12,000 spectators, it will host the Olympic field hockey competitions and then house the headquarters of the Field Hockey Federation, becoming a national training center for this discipline.

Thanks to this renovation of the stadium, financed by Solideo, the department and the region (94.2 million euros in total), the city also hopes to be able to re-attract the Racing rugby team, part of Colombes for La Défense Arena, in the neighboring town of Nanterre, since the end of 2017. “There are discussions, not finalized. Racing, which we met, is thinking. We are quite confident.”advances the mayor.

For Colombes, the Olympics are also an opportunity to open up to the international scene. The municipality has had two Games preparation centers listed: a boxing gym and the courts of its tennis club. All that remains now is to attract international delegations to settle there before the Games.

“We had visits from the Cuban ambassador, as well as a Thai delegation, for boxing. We are awaiting a response from Thailand”explains Mr. Chaimovitch, who affirms that“at the end of the summer we will have found the solution”.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Paris 2024 Olympic Games: the sports associations of Seine-Saint-Denis deplore “a heritage at a discount”

Be that as it may, the elected official believes that the Games will constitute “an accelerator” for the city’s investment policy in terms of sports facilities. “Without the Games, we would have renovated the swimming pool, for example, but not on the same schedule”he underlines, while recalling that on the term of office, these are “about 80 million euros of investment” which are intended for the renovation and construction of sports infrastructure, “i.e. one third of our investment capacity”.

4,750 free tickets and fan zones

“It shouldn’t be their Games, it should be our Games. » This is how Patrick Chaimovitch, the mayor of Colombes, summarizes the need for the Olympic and Paralympic Games not to be, for Colombians and Colombians, a distant object, reserved only for some. In this perspective, the city will buy and distribute 4,750 tickets for the Olympic Games free of charge. “We will rely on associations, clubs and social centers to distribute them, ensuring that there is no cronyism”explains the elected official, who adds that several fan-zones will be installed in the city during the summer of 2024. By then, various activities related to the Games will be put in place.

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