Most Modern Velodrome In Balkans To Be Built In Plovdiv

The construction of the largest and most advanced velodrome in South Eastern Europe is set to begin in early 2009 in the central Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. The modern facility will be constructed in the picturesque town, over an area of 12 hectares. It will be an Olympic-sized complex, fully covered, and will be located at Iztochen Boulevard and Naicho Tsanov Street, Stroitelstvo Gradut weekly wrote on November 24 2008.Within its complex design, it will incorporate arenas for basketball, volleyball, handball and about a dozen other sports, all of them surrounded by a cycling track 250 metres long and seven metres wide. The complex will have a capacity for 5000 spectators, and underground parking facility for 300 vehicles, a modern press centre, dressing rooms, coaching facilities, a sports-recreational centre, restaurants and a large commercial centre for a wide variety of sports merchandise and kit. The total size of the project will be 26 840 square metres.The author of the technical conception for the multifunctional facility belongs to the Dutch architect Sander Dumas, licensed by the International Cycling Union (UCI). He has created in the past the largest-known velodromes in Europe, notably the facilities in Monte Carlo, Palma de Majorca, and Manchester amongst others. Meanwhile on the designated site, Bulgarian specialists have conducted over the course of a year the thorough preparation for the project documentation.The architectural part of the project was prepared by Archcentre - A EOOD, consisting of architects Todor Abadjiev, Kiril Marov and Nikolai Abadjiev. "We have strived to created a modern sports facility which, on one side, will be fully adequate in accordance to all modern European standards, and on the other to fulfil the international requirements for a covered, all-season velodrome, and to be easily executed at that," architect Todor Abadjiev said, as quoted by Stroitelstvo Gradut.