“We don’t want to end up with nothing for two or three years”, dreads Benoist Guillet, president of the Dordogne departmental athletics committee. While the city of Périgueux has set itself the goal of modernize its sports parkthe athletics of Dordogne fears to bear the brunt of this new restructuring plan.
Bring the pitch closer to the stands
The project has been in the drawers for several years, the idea was already mentioned under the mandate of the former mayor of Périgueux Antoine Audi. The Francis Rongiéras Stadium, almost 12 hectares large and built in the mid-1970s, needs a good coat of paint. The complex is not very accessible, the stands are dilapidated, not up to standard.
At the end of May, the town hall launched a call for tenders, and among the objectives put forward, it is planned to “bring the Rongiéras stadium playground closer to the public”, while CAP rugby aims to move up to PRO D2. Everyone was able to realize this during the French football cup matches, the lawn is too far from the stands.
The moved athletics track?
If the athletes have stepped up to the plate, it is because the 400-meter ring that surrounds the lawn could be in danger. Bringing the playground closer to the spectators would necessarily lead to the removal of the athletics track. And athletes fear being left without equipment.
According to Jean-Michel Lesur, president of CAP athletics, the department would have considered for a time building an “indoor” hall at Grenadière. An excellent idea according to him, but “in addition”because “it was about a 200 meter track, and it cannot replace a 400 meter track”.
Now, there is a rumor that the track could be moved to Copo, just a few hundred meters from Rongiéras. But here, it’s the timing that gets stuck. “The Copo belongs to the SNCF. It would take years to negotiate and then build a regional track. What do we do in the meantime?”, asks Benoist Guillet. Time is running out, the town hall of Périgueux plans to start work on the Francis Rongiéras stadium at the end of 2023.
A six-lane regional track, 400 meters
“I have nothing against the town hall, nothing against the project, but an athletics track is used by everyone. Athletes, rugby players, dancers”, adds Yoann Kowal, the Périgord athlete, European champion in the 3,000 m steeplechase. While there are 1,200 licensees in the Dordogne, including 240 in Périgueux, not to mention schoolchildren, Benoist Guillet wonders about the near future of the federation. “We were told about Trélissac, but come to Trélissac on a Tuesday evening you will see the world. There should soon be the Bergerac track but you have to be in Périgueux, the prefecture city. We need an approved track, of regional level , six corridors, 400 meters in the urban area of Périgueux”he concludes. A petition was launched by athletes, it was signed by more than 1,400 people.
For her part, the mayor of Périgueux Delphine Labails ensures that a steering committee made up of the town hall, the department, the Olympic and sports committee and the federations has been working for several months to find a suitable place. “We have this whole year opening up at the start of the school year to be able to find solutions for the transitional period”she says.