Venue wrestles with soil, time
Original it might be, but it is also expensive. The Ano Liosia Indoor Hall started out with a high budget, which only got higher as time went by. Like the weightlifting center, the sports hall marks the first time that wrestling will have a permanent structure of its own. But at 69 million euros, it is regarded as one of the most expensive Olympic projects. All the bodies involved in the work agree that the wrestling center is overdesigned, entailing not only high construction costs but also a severe financial drain in its post-Olympic use, given high maintenance and operational costs. The huge cost involved is precisely the problem. Hopeful glances are being cast at the private sector, as the building, able to host a broad range of athletic and cultural events after the Games, was designed with an eye to its future use and spectator capacity. But the fundamental cause of the steep budget was the foundation work that had to be done. The wrestling complex is being constructed in an area with unstable soils that is very close to to the 1999 Athens earthquake epicenter, requiring special surveys and foundation works which not only pushed up the budget but also delayed the project. As a result, it is one of the works that is in a race against time. The Olympic installation at Ano Liosia is being constructed on a 65,000-square-meter plot of land outside the city limits next to modern sports facilities and a new housing complex. The main building will have four levels, with the machinery storerooms and tanks in the basement and the arena, changing and training rooms, physiotherapy room and restaurant on the ground floor. The media center and VIP rooms will be on the third level – or first floor – while the entrances, entrance halls, bars and other areas for the spectators will be on the fourth level. The arena will have a capacity for 8,000 spectators in 4,000 fixed and 4,000 moveable seats on both sides of the sports hall. After the Olympic Games, the movable seats can be removed and the space put to other use. The ultra-modern gymnasium building, 3.5 hectares (8.64 acres) in size, will house warmup and rest areas, training areas, a medical center and physiotherapy and hydrotherapy facilities. Outside the building, a car park with a capacity for 237 cars and 30 coaches is under construction. Cars carrying security, athletes, VIPs and media representatives will have a separate entrance and two car parks, with 58 places for VIPs and 44 places for journalists. The authorities also want to remove Gypsy settlements from around the Olympic facility. «I have no doubt that it will be an extremely successful Olympic Games. I have no doubt that between now and then there will be occasions when you will wonder about that, but could I assure you. .. that was exactly the same in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics,» Howard said.
