An amendment that restricts the scope of a 'twin redevelopment' project to build a new sports complex for Athens' Panathinaikos club in Votanikos and a park at the site of the old stadium on Alexandras Avenue was tabled in Parliament on Thursday.
Under the amendment, plans to build a municipal multi-purpose building at the site of the old stadium are scrapped, as are plans for a Panathinaikos basketball stadium. There will also be a reduction of envisaged commercial uses of the new football stadium and commercial uses originally planned to be housed outside the shell of the stadium will now be housed within it.
There will be a 50 percent increase in sports uses for the amateur Panathinaikos club while at the same time reducing ground coverage of the sports complex by roughly half.
Also reduced are parking space for the new sports complex.
Overall building coverage under the redevelopment project in Votanikos is expected to be reduced by roughly 6.6 hectares and any new buildings will be much smaller than before the ETMA factories were demolished.
Open spaces and green spaces in the Votanikos area will increase by some 3.0 hectares and total public green spaces in both areas of the twin redevelopment project will now amount to nearly ten hectares.
The amendment also stipulates that in order for the sports facilities for the Panathinaikos amateur teams to be given a licence to operate in the Votanikos area, a demolition permit for the existing sports facilities on Alexandras Avenue must first be issued.
ANA
