By Mark Baber
January 14 – The central Russian city of Samara awarded the design contract for its new 2018 World Cup stadium to the State Unitary Enterprise of the Samara Region Institute (‘TerrNIIgrazhdanproekt’).
The contract value is reported at $27.5 million. The initial capacity of the new arena will be 45,000, which will be reduced after the World Cup to 35,000 when the stadium should function as the home to local football club, Krylya Sovetov.
Regional governor Nikolai Merkushin said: “Design work is the most important stage of preparation for the 2018 World Cup,
“We believe that the stadium should be an ornament, the pride of Samara, both as an architectural object and as a sports facility.”
The stadium will be built in the Radiocenter district in the north of the city. Plans to build the stadium on a peninsula at the confluence of the Samara and Volga were abandoned in December primarily due to the costs of strengthening the shore line.
The new location is closer to the airport, will benefit from easier access, will allow for car parks and will be surrounded by new residential housing.
“Right next door, we’re planning to build a residential area with affordable housing and all social infrastructure, so there’ll be multipurpose sports centres, recreation areas and conference halls that can be used to host important events for the city and the region. That way, the area will become Samara’s key area for sport and recreation, a new and attractive location where local people and visitors to the region will be able to live and rest,” said Merkushin.
Building work is expected to start in January 2014.
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