By Mark Baber
June 16 – A new stadium for AS Roma has moved a significant step closer with a media briefing to mark the submission of the master plan for the development of the Tor di Valle-Stadio della Roma construction project to the Rome municipality.
The master plan, described as “one of the most important projects of urban regeneration in Europe” includes a comprehensive redevelopment of the area as well as supporting Roma’s intention “to become one of the world’s most successful football clubs in the world.”
The media event was hosted by AS Roma President James Pallotta, Eurnova CEO Luca Parnasi and representatives of AS Roma SPV LLC and project partners Lend Lease, Meis, Libeskind and LAND to outline the 105 hectare, €1.5 billion project which includes a 52,500-60,000 seater stadium and Nuova Trigoria – a business park, a centralized entertainment district convivium and green areas.
Pallotta said: “Today represents an historic milestone for the City of Rome and AS Roma. We’re proud of the job done by our team of international experts in the last three years and we thank the Rome Administration for the great collaboration showed since the first presentation of the project, here at Campidoglio in December 2013.
“Mayor Marino and his staff have been challenging us along the way to make the project better and I believe we’ve done everything we could to make Tor di Valle-Stadio della Roma a new safe, connected, exciting and sustainable epicenter that will allow a better way to live in the city and trigger economic development in the area, with AS Roma and the new stadium serving as the anchor for many generations to come.
Mark Pannes, CEO of Stadio della Roma, stressed that the project was committed to the Italian institutions, economy and business environment and “security will be one of key features of the project as we want to create a safe and family-friendly environment for fans and visitors. The Stadio della Roma team has been working closely with the International Centre for Sports Security (ICSS) surrounding the design, implementation and management of the highest-level security objectives including security risk assessment and security strategy development for both on-site infrastructure and cyber security plus a state-of-the-art, 24-hour security surveillance for the entire master site.”
The plans envisage 50% of visitors to use public transportation to reach the site, although over 10,000 new vehicle parking spaces will be built.
The next steps for the project include a review of the plans by the Rome City Council and then the Lazio Regional government.
Whilst Pallotta’s intention is for the project to transform the clubs fortunes, integrating it into a business-friendly, family-friendly, secure and heavily surveilled environment, he has been at pains to stress that the new stadium will welcome the Curva Sud, Roma’s ultras.
The project is expected to begin later this year, with the stadium expected to be completed in time for the 2017-18 season, making AS Roma the second Serie A club to own its stadium and allowing it to surpass Juventus in match-day revenues.
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