AEK Athens’ long-stalled stadium project in northwest Athens’ Nea Philadelphia district may soon graduate from the drawing board to actual construction, as noteworthy progress has been recorded over the summer. According to the Athens sports daily “Ora ton Sport”, which caters to a partisan AEK audience, everything is ready for the first stage of construction.
Specifically, AEK stadium project manager Dimitris Andriopoulos worked on the final details with a civil engineering team and all that is needed is (yet another) final approval by state services so that work can begin.
AEK’s main shareholder, businessman Dimitris Melissanidis, has also reportedly made progress on the important issue of future commercial exploitation of the new sports facility.
History
In 1926 vacant land was divided into plots in what is today Nea Philadelphia. The land was allocated to ethnic Greek refugees hailing from Asia Minor. AEK Athens, founded as a sports club by ethnic Greeks from Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), used a tract of land in the area as an unofficial training ground. By 1930 the property was granted by the state to the amateur organization.
A first pitch was built in 1930, and continuously expanded until it was demolished in June 2003, so that a new stadium could be built. The old facility had also sustained some damage from a 1999 earthquake. The goal was to have the stadium ready by the Athens Olympics in 2004. Nevertheless, the Council of State halted construction after a group of local residents and supporters filed a court petition claiming various town planning and constitutional infractions. The venue was also summarily removed from the list of Olympic venues by the then Athens 2004 organizing committee.
The CoS blocked the planned construction, which was based on a now abandoned building design. The current design envisions a smaller structure over a smaller area and has withstood numerous legal challenges.
