REPORTAGE
The first diggers were given. A little less than five years from the start of the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, Prime Minister Philippe Philippe kicked off Monday the construction of the Olympic Village, in the presence of several members of the government. A project that will last three years, to lead to a site of 51 hectares straddling three municipalities of Seine-Saint-Denis: Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen and L'Île-Saint-Denis.
"We have to welcome 15,615 athletes," explains Nicolas Ferrand, director of the Olympic Games Delivery Company (Solidéo), after presenting the head of the government with a model of the future village. "After, it will be offices, housing ... It means that the building will have many lives," he says again.
Delivery expected in the first half of 2024
Indeed, after the Olympics, the Olympic Village must be reconfigured into a new neighborhood, with more than 3,000 dwellings in 2025. A legacy that the organizers of the Olympic Games want to leave behind. But some players in the sector warn however: be careful that it is not a communication operation.
Thus, the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) is calling for a Sports budget to match its ambitions. "We are respectful people, we do not threaten, we do not run in the street, we do not strike", explains its president Denis Masseglia at the microphone of Europe 1. "We are at the service of the population" , he adds, before deploring: "The recognition that is shown to us is not up to the commitment that is ours."
After the demolition phase of existing buildings, construction work will begin in 2021 for delivery in the first half of 2024.