MODERNISATION AND RENEWAL OF THE HELSINKI OLYMPIC STADIUM - The Olympic Stadium towards a new era

The renewed Helsinki Olympic Stadium has the largest capacity for sports and entertainment in Finland. The facilities, public services, performance areas, logistics and technical equipment meet the requirements of a modern multi-purpose venue. In future the Olympic Stadium is expected to attract about one million visitors every year.

‘The Helsinki Olympic Stadium meets the requirements of major sports, entertainment and cultural events and it also gives Finland the opportunity to apply for big new international events’, declares Carl Haglund,Minister of the Finnish Government responsible for matters related to sport. He emphasises that the construction phase and the expansion of operations will have significant effects on the economy and the employment situation.

The project covers 40,720 gross square metres in all, and the new facilities of the plan total 19,290 gross square metres. Moreover, the field area and the tracks will be renewed as part of the project. There will be a new visitors’ centre, attractive service and restaurant premises, adequate sanitary facilities, versatile conference rooms and new VIP and corporate boxes. All spectator stands will be covered with canopies and the seats will be replaced. The exit arrangements and the security of the stadium bowl will be improved by adding new exits. It will be possible to circle the whole Stadium in the rear of the spectator stands. The number of seats in the modernised stadium will be 35,000-36,000.

‘The refurbished Olympic Stadium is a functional, safe and recognisable multi-purpose venue. The facilities of the Stadium are of high quality, durable, easily convertible and as accessible as possible. The renewed entity also accommodates every-day exercise of top athletes’, says Maija Innanen, Managing Director of the Stadium Foundation.

In future the Olympic Stadium will serve different target groups better than before. Around the Stadium there will be an open space for subsidiary events, to which the public will have access both in front of the Stadium and by the northern entrance. Stadium tours, visits to the tower and the Finnish Sports Museum offer every-day experiences. The beautiful functionalistic Stadium will preserve its important features. New constructions are made with the future in mind, but with respect to the architecture.

‘Representing functionalism, the Olympic Stadium is one of the internationally best known buildings in Helsinki. It is essential that the Stadium building complex should be kept in active use. The renovation also gives all citizens of Helsinki more options for sports and exercise than before. The Stadium is of great significance to the City, as it is estimated to have substantial production effects’, maintains Ritva Viljanen,Helsinki’s Deputy Mayor for Cultural Affairs.

 

In the project planning phase the cost of renewal of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium is estimated at 209 million euros (excl. VAT). The Government covers half of the project costs. In November 2012 the City Council of Helsinki endorsed a co-operation agreement, according to which the City and the Government will finance the repair works in equal shares. The project plan is to be presented to the City Council in early 2015. The Stadium Foundation is in charge of furnishing the modernised Olympic Stadium.

Construction work will begin in 2016 and the renewed Olympic Stadium will open in the summer of 2019. The construction phase will generate 2,900 jobs and 460 million euros worth of production effects in society. In the operational phase the renovated Olympic Stadium will have a production effect of approximately 132 million euros every year and the event activities will employ some 1,150 people.

More information:

Ministry of Education and Culture
Director Harri Syväsalmi, tel. +358 40 5577725 / harri.syvasalmi@minedu.fi

City of Helsinki
Deputy Mayor for Cultural Affairs Ritva Viljanen, tel. +358 50 5635710 / ritva.viljanen@hel.fi

Stadium Foundation
Managing Director Maija Innanen, tel. +358 40 5305522 / maija.innanen@stadion.fi

www.stadion.fi

-       project plan

-       illustration of the renovated Olympic Stadium

-       press conference image bank