Bucharest municipality earmarks EUR 138 mln for sports arena

Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea announced that the City Council endorsed the development of a 20,000-seat sports arena estimated to cost around EUR 138 million.

The municipality plans to complete the project in three years, Agerpres reported. The new polyvalent hall will be close to the Lia Manoliu sports complex and National Arena, in the eastern part of Bucharest.

The Company for Sustainable Development, one of the 22 municipal companies that were dismantled by Court, has developed the project.

Mayor Firea claimed that the project's cost should not be compared with those of similar projects in Romania since the Bucharest sports arena will be like no other: it will be certified to host almost any sports competition. The new arena would allow Bucharest to host international competitions and would help promote the city, according to the project drafted by the Company for Sustainable Development.

Opposition parties, however, already objected to the excessive price of the project. Liberal member of the City Council Ciprian Ciucu argued that Cluj-Napoca sports arena with a capacity of 10,000 seats required an investment of only RON 80 million (EUR 17 million), eight times less than the cost estimated by Bucharest municipality, G4media.ro reported.

(Photo source: Facebook / Gabriela Firea)