With 115 days to go until the official opening of the Olympic Games, the Roucas Blanc marina, which will host the sailing events, was inaugurated on Tuesday, April 2, in the presence of the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, as well as the city’s Secretary of State, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, and the president of the Organizing Committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Tony Estanguet.
It’s an opportunity to get a glimpse for the first time of the legacy the infrastructure will leave on the Marseille landscape during the Games. While the marina will officially open its doors to the general public on Saturday, April 6 for an open house, there were already many other people, in addition to elected officials and the press, evolving around the lake, on land and at sea, professional athletes and kittens who love sailing and other outdoor sports. Because not only do you sail on the perimeter of the marina, but also sports courts for the disabled, basketball courts or rowing machines. A total of 7,800 m² of new buildings, 480 m² of refurbished buildings and 32,000 m² of outdoor spaces designed by the architecture firm Rougerie Tangram and Carta associés are being built on site. . In the long term, the ambition of the city of Marseille, which owns the site, is to allow all young Marseillais to know how to sail.
“We knocked down the barriers of this marina so that the kids can also see what an optimist, a 420, looks like. We went to all the principals to ask them to pass the navigation to their students. We are multiplying budgets to make this possible,” said Marseille President Benoît Payan. The venue could also be used to host other events, confirmed the elected official, whose nature has not yet been specified.
Sailing Olympic Games in Marseille: the stages of the organization
Beside her, all smiles, the Minister of Sports is happy to see the marina, which she hesitates to describe as “the most beautiful frame of water in the world”: “I am very happy with this infrastructure of first class environmental and social quality. This combination of energies allows us to come back on time and meet the monetary equations. “
Where will the approximately 12,000 spectators of the nautical events sit?There is the Olympic marina, reserved for athletes, and the spectator area. In total, the area in question will have a capacity for 12,260 spectators each of the twelve days of the festival. (All tickets have already been sold). But only 2,260 places are planned, corresponding to the rest of the people who will get on the shuttles over the water. The rest will have to make do with the hill, the Prado beaches and the giant screens. . . .
If the marina is fit to host the Olympic Games, the monetary equation, on the other hand, is not entirely solved. . . There are still five million euros left to complete the overall budget of the marina, which amounts to about 49 million euros. . Indeed, the paintings have been affected by inflation, according to the mayor, but not only: “All prices have skyrocketed, from concrete to electricity. But above all, we wanted to make virtuoso paintings. We brought the best, we have made sure to recover the fauna and flora. In the coming years we will put children in a mask and snorkel so that they can appreciate this herb aquarium and show them what the biodiversity that is returning looks like. So yes, it costs more, but it will be much more in terms of return on investment,” says Benoît Payan, who is worried about Gomet’.
In any case, one thing is certain: the mayor refuses to take on this new position alone. At the moment, the city is guilty of 10. 4 million euros, the rest is financed by other local governments (metropolis, department, region). A fund-raising committee will soon meet, which will also come with the other communities, to redistribute the charges. The general atmosphere is one of unity and fair play on this inauguration morning. It remains to be seen whether the “conjunction of energies” will continue when the question of financing is put back on the table. . .
Find out more: > [In pictures] The Olympic Marina is inaugurated amid the greetings of the people of Marseille> High-level sport, education and research: Sylvie Retailleau visits the Olympic Marina> Our special report on the Olympic Games
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