100 meters long, 30 meters high, and 63 million euros more. These are the main lines announced on Wednesday for the future aquatic center, which is about to be built for the Paris Olympics. Due to initially cost 111 million euros, as stated in the Paris 2024 application, the complex will indeed be much more expensive than expected and should ultimately cost 174 million euros, as announced by the Metropolis of Greater Paris .
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How then to explain this sudden increase in the bill for what will be, with the Arena 2, the only sports equipment built for competition? In reality, the construction of the center itself will cost “only” 147 million euros, and owes its increase to inflation in construction costs and the updating of the value of the euro according to FranceJeux.com . To this sum, we must add 20 million linked to the construction of a playful aquatic space. Not planned at the start, it has been added to balance the operation of the equipment. Finally, the cost of cleaning up the land increases the bill to this number of 174 million euros.
A number that ignores the coronavirus epidemic
The project, which should be officially entrusted to Bouygues on May 15, is already worrying the Paris 2024 vigilance committee in Saint-Denis, as he did not fail to point out in a tweet. "Over 50 million overruns right now ... it promises." For its part, Solideo (the company in charge of the Olympic sites) assures it, "the costs remain under control". It is moreover this company which should pay a good part of the bill (154 million euros), half contributed by the State, local authorities bringing the second half.
Over 50 million overruns right now ... it promises. https://t.co/21Fadl0G7u
- Vigilance JO StDenis (@ VigilanceJO93) April 29, 2020»READ ALSO - Coronavirus: the Tokyo Olympics will be canceled if the epidemic persists in 2021
Finally, if the center promises to be one of a kind with in particular two pools separated by a mobile platform and no less than 6000 seats during the Olympic competition, its construction cost could well be revised upwards in the future. The first increase does not take into account the coronavirus epidemic, of which Solideo does not yet know the repercussions on the site, which should begin in spring 2021. "We have no crystal ball", explains the company.
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