Durban Hopes Stadium Arch Will Pay Long-Term Dividends

Officials in Durban are hoping the arch over the new Moses Mabhida Stadium will be a long-standing tourist attraction -- one that will help pay off the $450 million stadium.

If they take the car ride rather than the 520 steps, fans can stand on a walkway high above the stadium and, although they can see little of the field, the view is breathtaking, if not a little scary.

Months before the World Cup arrives in Durban on June 13, the arch is being put to use as a tourist attraction and is likely to be a money maker long after the tournament finishes on July 11 as organisers aim to make up the $450 million cost of building the stadium.

Giants arch is Durban's tourist attraction
Independent Online
April 1, 2010

Zuma Confident About World Cup's Long Term Legacy

South African President Jacob Zuma is promoting the long-term physical legacy of the 2010 World Cup, promising that the event will bring about a major countrywide improvement to the nation's infrastructure.

In an interview with the UK's Financial Times published on Thursday, Zuma said the government planned to invest more than R800 billion in infrastructure after the soccer tournament finished, as Africa's largest economy continues to expand economic activity.

The development programme for the next three years will include power stations, roads and dams.

Zuma hopes to build on World Cup momentum
Reuters
February 25, 2010

New Stadia Need Huge Crowds to Sustain Over Long-Term

The long-term viability of South Africa's new football stadia is being questioned by many in the country. One critic says each of the new stadia will need to attract 30,000 spectators every week for nine months of the year to pay off the large investment cities have made in the five new World Cup venues.

[Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry executive Albert] Schuitmaker says it is unlikely that the vast investment in World Cup stadiums will ever produce acceptable returns.

"It has not done so in many countries which have hosted World Cups and Olympic Games. Indeed some stadiums have been demolished soon after the event."

Will 2010 stadiums survive?
Independent Online
November 5, 2009

With Eyes on Woprld Cup, London U-Turns on Temporary Olympic Stadium

Officials in London are backtracking on a much-touted plan to build the city's 2012 Olympic Stadium as a semi-temporary structure, and are now considering a plan to make the stadium a permanent fixture. The move is part of an effort to help England secure World Cup hosting duties in either 2018 or 2022.

The move signals a drastic u-turn on the original legacy plan for the Olympics, which envisaged the stadium as a semi-temporary venue which would be converted into a smaller, 25,000-capacity sports school and athletic ground in ‘legacy mode’.

According to the Evening Standard, [legacy chief Baroness] Ford said she was convinced the ‘beautiful’ stadium could pay its way as an all-year ‘visitor attraction’ and become part of London’s ‘iconic offer’.

As a result, stadium designers Populous - formerly HOK Sport - could be asked to rework the scheme which is already well under construction.

The original plan for post-Olympics adaptive reuse had received critical acclaim, as many other Olympic hosts have struggled to make use of Olympic structures after the event is over. The new move to make the stadium permanent could make major waves in London's legacy plan, which had envisioned the Olympic campus becoming a mixed use residential and parks district after the games.

Stadium faces redesign in drastic London Olympic rethink
The Arhcitects' Journal
June 29, 2009

Brazil Cautions Itself About Overspending for 2014

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has expressed concern and warning about the country's upcoming 2014 World Cup hosting duties, calling on planners to not overspend and to focus on creating projects and investments that will have a long-term use and viability after the tournament.

His caveat this week came a day after Jerome Valcke, the general secretary of Fifa, said officials were concerned that infrastructure built for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa would become "white elephants".

"We're going to hold the World Cup in 2014 and we shouldn't go overboard and spend what we don't have," the Brazilian president said.

Fifa have approved 12 cities to host games in 2014 and all of them must build new stadiums or refurbish older ones.

2014 World Cup costs a cause for concern
The Star
June 25, 2009

The Development of Green Point Stadium

Pitch Invasion offers this look at the current state of development at Cape Town's Green Point Stadium. Post includes some great pictures and some video.

Green Point Stadium will host eight games at the 2010 World Cup, including a semi-final, and will have a capacity of 68,000 at a cost of R3 billion (approx. $400M). It is being constructed on the site of the now demolished old Green Point Stadium, an 18,000 capacity stadium home to both Santos Football Club and Ajax Cape Town.

World Cup Stadia 2010: Green Point Stadium
Pitch Invasion
June 23, 2009