Bringing it up to standard, new covered stand, new ground… The mayor of Valence Nicolas Daragon talks about it like a “major investment of the mandate”. The budget for the renovation of the Pompidou stadium is now set. Eventually, 10 million euros will be invested, after initial repairs which had already cost 1.8 million euros four years ago.
We are not yet at the first shovel: studies will be carried out for a year and a half to finalize the project, then will come the time of the site, with the objective ofa fully rehabilitated stadium in September 2025. The main change will be the installation ofa new covered grandstand, with boxes, at a cost of 9 million euros. Its capacity should remain the same, from 12,000 to 15,000 places.
It’s a bit like Christmas before December 25 – Laurent Beaugiraud, co-president of the VRDR
The Pompidou stadium was built in 1973. Renovation work took place in 2018 to allow its approval and in particular to redo the lighting.
But it was only a step towards its modernization, the Pompidou stadium not fully meeting the specifications of the National Rugby League. “We have been insisting for a few years that work be done to welcome the public, comfort work, repairs and for a new covered stand” explains Laurent Beaugiraud, co-president of the VRDR.
With 3 million euros on the table, the Region is the first funder of the project. Then come the City of Valence and the Department with around 2.5 million euros each. Funders also, the agglomeration and the State, just like the VRDR which will participate in the overall envelope to the tune of one and a half million euros through the payment of rent.