The 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has come to an end after two weeks of intense competitions smeared in controversies, scandals, revelations and loses. Soon the memories will become distant in our mind. But one thing will remain even after the games end: the infrastructures used.
The stadiums at Rio were in the past weeks filled with eager spectators cheering their favorite team and athletes hoping to win a medal. However, these are all in the past now.
During the buildup to the Olympics, Brazilian authorities spent an estimated $25 billion and displaced an estimated 80,000 people to build stadiums and venues for the games. But what happens to all this infrastructures after the game ends?
Other cities that have hosted the Olympic games have had a hard time sustaining the infrastructures left over from the games. For instance the Bird Nest stadium used in 2008 games in Beijing for the football event has been abandoned and cost the Chinese government about $10 million dollars to maintain.
London ran into the same trouble after it hosted the Olympics games in 2012. Same holds for the Olympic Village in Berlin, Germany (1936), Athens (2004), Munich (1972), Sarajevo (1982). The facilities used for this games are often time not repurposed and are left to ruin.
So here are some of the ways Brazil plans to repurpose some the facilities used for the games:
The Future Arena, the temporary venue for the handball event for the 2016 Olympics and goalball at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, will be dismantled and used to construct four schools. Each of the school is expected to hold about 500 students.
The Managing Director of AndArchitect, the British company that designed the stadium, says that the venue was designed to be multi-purposed. “The way everything gets moved from place to another is a bit like Lego.”
The aquatic stadiums will be converted into two community swimming centers, the Barra Olympic Park will be used for public parks, Olympic Training Center, and private development, while the media center will be turned into high school dormitory.
The city also plans to turn athletes accommodations into luxury real estate.
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