22 Jul 2014
Barcelona's Olympic Stadium to be reborn as sports theme park in 2015
BY Tom Anstey
A new theme park – coming in 2015 on the site of Barcelona’s Olympic Ring – will be entirely dedicated to sport, offering a unique show designed to give visitors a vicarious thrill of being a top sports athlete.
The 66,000sq m (710,000sq ft) facility will occupy the current Olympic Stadium, the Palau Sant Jordi sports hall, the Olympic and Sports Museum Juan Antonio Samaranch, the Bernat Picornell swimming pool, the telecommunications tower designed by Santiago Calatrava and the INEFC sports faculty, with all these facilities combining their regular day-to-day activities with those of the theme park.
Simulators and other forms of interactive digital technology will give visitors the experience of being a downhill skier or top flight football player, among 56 activities on offer. There will also be award ceremonies with flags and podiums, with cameras filming the experience so that visitors can later relive the moment.
Every night between June and September there will be a full-scale closing ceremony, with winners mounting the podium to receive their medals.
The park will include an Open Museum which will offer interactive sporting experiences and an area where visitors will be able to experience the history of sports, as well as media coverage of many different events from the world of sport.
The underused Olympic Stadium and other facilities – built for the 1992 Olympic Games – will be upgraded at a cost of €20m (US$27m, £15.8m). It is expected to create 240 jobs and bring an estimated €53m (US$71.6m, £41.9m) to the city of Barcelona.
A consortium of 23 companies has signed a five-year contract with the city council to rent the facilities for €30m (US$40.5m, £23.7m). The basic entrance fee will be €28 (US$37.8, £22.2) with an expected 7,000 visitors coming through daily.
A €45 (US$60.8, £35.6) ticket will allow visitors to participate in a game of football or basketball, run a 1,500m race or take part in various Olympic disciplines. Tickets will be available via a mobile app that will also serve as a guide to the theme park.
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