The Braga stadium may be sold



[ad_1]

The iconic municipal stadium of Braga is likely to be sold by the city council, due to the "big" debt it brings to the local authority – and the impossibility to generate revenue because of the limitations of the infrastructure.

In recent years, there have been several legal battles between the municipality, the construction consortium and the workshop of the architect Souto de Moura, with the risk that the municipality still spends $ 16 million. 39; euros.
In case of sale, advanced by Ricardo Rio, mayor, a portion of revenue (about five million euros) would be channeled to the restructuring of the former May 1 stadium.

Ricardo Rio explained to SOL that the decision to sell the stadium is still not taken, saying that it is a scenario on the table. "We have not yet taken any proactive steps to put the stadium on the market or to contact potential stakeholders, but that's something we plan to do," says Rio Ricardo

. By the municipality, the stadium "does not generate revenue", regrets the mayor. "It was not designed to generate real estate or commercial income, as exists at Alvalade or in the Dragon.There are only a few inner sectors that support the operation." Ricardo Rio

And getting money through other initiatives, like shows, is not a reality either. "There was only one concert of The Corrs in 2004, and the truth is that it was an initiative that never had reprinting. I can not say if the acoustic conditions are ideal, but the truth is that there was no other promoter who wanted to use the stadium for this purpose, "said PSD's mayor

Acknowledging the value of the stadium as a "work of art", the mayor says that "A Pedreira" – which has already received several awards for architecture – "is a luxury item and l & # 39; 39; potential buyer will not be a traditional investor looking for a return on investment.

Debt of 25 million euros

The initial cost of building the stadium, inaugurated in 2003, was about 65 million euros. During construction, however, it skidded to a total of 150 million euros. The Braga City Council, at the time commissioned by Mesquita Machado, contracted a bank debt of 80.1 million euros. At present, 25 million euros have to be paid, and every year the local authority pays 7.5 million euros to the banks, according to the mayor 's version.

In addition to this amount, between 100,000 and 150,000 euros per year for the maintenance of the stadium – costs related to infrastructure monitoring, infrastructure repair or maintenance of the cupboard and materials electronic support, the Mayor told SOL.
The only source of income is the rent charged by the room at Sporting Clube de Braga, or 550 euros per month.

Risk of Growing Slippage

Slippage in Expenditures of 'The Quarry & # 39; can still increase by 16 million euros plus interest. This is because they are going through the courts three actions against autarky, because of the stadium accounts. Two actions emanate from the consortium of construction companies ASSOC-Soares da Costa, which claims that works that have not been paid for by the chamber have been executed. In one of the actions, dated 2003, the Northern Central Administrative Court sentenced the municipality last year to pay the consortium another six million euros, within a period of one year. a year.

In another lawsuit, the consortium claims another ten million euros and the case is before the Supreme Court of Justice.
In addition to these two cases, the architect Souto de Moura has also filed a lawsuit against the municipality, demanding the payment of three million euros, which relate to changes to the original project that n? were not considered in their initial fees.

In this case, the Administrative and Tax Court of Braga decided unfavorably on autarky, which will appeal the decision.

SOL contacted the workshop of the architect Porto but until closing this edition he got no answer.

[ad_2]
Source link