The new Milan stadium, which will replace the famous San Siro, is expected to cost more than £1 billion to build, with building beginning as early as January 2024.
The new stadium, dubbed ‘The Cathedral,’ will be built near the present stadium, which has long been confirmed to be demolished, as part of the development plans.
However, preliminary blueprints for the new stadium indicated that one of the old stadium’s famed 11 towers will be preserved as an homage.
But nothing will remain, not even Tower 11, which was to be the eternal symbol of the football ladder and will be demolished in order to revitalize the aesthetics of the huge Italian metropolis.
In Italy, there is little regard for a club’s sporting history, and the demolition of the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium at San Siro is proof of the city’s disregard for its architectural masterpieces.
According to Fatto Quotidiano, the new stadium will cost €1.2 billion (£1 billion), with construction set to begin in January 2024.
The historic Meazza stadium will hold the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in 2026, after which it will be destroyed from the Italian perimeter but not from the hearts of the supporters. Inter and Milan anticipate a rise in income of €120 million (£105 million), with €80 million (£70 million) coming from the stadium sector and €40 million (£35 million) coming from the marketing sector.
The project is expected to take 80 months in total, which is relatively short given the significant visual impact it will have on the city. A convention center and a 68 thousand square meter mega retail center are in the works.
There will be a modest volume reduction compared to the current stadium: instead of the approximately 150,000 square meters of concrete planned by the original idea, 98,321 square meters will remain.
According to all Italian media, the Meazza stadium will be fully dismantled, with nothing of its past and history remaining save the dust of the stands, as determined by the City Council of Milan.
Inter and AC Milan will have first refusal on the upgrades, which are scheduled to be completed in 2030.
It’s heartbreaking to think that the stadium that once housed Ronaldo the Brazilian and Shevchenko will no longer exist, but it’s the painful truth of Italian bureaucracy that will be remembered by all football lovers.