Juventus Unveils Plan to Demolish Delle Alpi
Copyright � 1999 Nando Media
Copyright � 1999 Agence France-Presse
TURIN, Italy (March 31, 1999 1:01 p.m. EST http://www.sportserver.com) - Juventus have unveiled plans for a new $220-million stadium complex that will mean knocking down the $100-million Delle Alpi ground built 50 meters away for the 1990 World Cup.
In a country where football grounds are owned by local councils, Juventus want to follow the British tradition of building and owning their own stadium, albeit alongside a new hotel, multi-screen cinema and restaurants.
The project has been put to Turin City Council, along with the ultimatum that if the Serie A giants do not get planning permission soon, they will leave their current ground in the summer of 2000.
The unloved Delle Alpi has been an expensive flop, dubbed "The Monument to Waste" by the Italian press.
Along with the building cost, which was triple the original estimate, its annual running expenses of $1.75 million and unused athletics track, have made it unpopular with officials and soccer fans alike.
And if Juventus has its way, it will be knocked down in 2001.
The club, backed by sponsors and business partners, have unveiled a three-phase project for a site covering more than 500,000 square meters, a project unprecedented in Italy.
Phase one is a training center with nine soccer pitches, changing rooms, gym facilities and a club headquarters. Work would start in January 2000, followed three months later by phase two -- a new 40,000 seater ground just 50 meters from the Delle Alpi, to be ready for the 2001-2002 season.
Once the new stadium is finished, the Delle Alpi will be demolished and building work will begin on a new hotel-restaurant-shop complex, complete with Juve museum and store, and also including a 20-screen cinema.
The plan effectively supersedes a previous one to re-develop their old ground, the Stadio Comunale, now used by the champions for training.
More significantly, the plan risks leaving second division neighbours Torino homeless. Their original ground, the Filadeflia, has long been demolished and they currently use the Delle Alpi on alternate Sundays.
Juventus will not share their new stadium complex with the Serie B club who, backed with a campaign by Turin-based Tuttosport newspaper, are campaigning for a redevelopment of the Filadelfia.
The Zebras have said they want an answer from Turin council within three weeks about their project. Though the deadline is unrealistic for a local authority in Italy, a decision is expected within three months.
