Axel May and Martin Lange / Photo credits: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
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2:18 p.m., February 29, 2024
Tuesday, on the day of the preview visit, workers were installing the last elements of street furniture in preparation for the inauguration by the Head of State this Thursday. Next summer, more than 10,000 athletes will be housed – several per apartment – in around forty buildings, distributed around two main avenues. “We completed the Olympic and Paralympic Village in six years. That’s four times less time than it normally takes for a neighborhood of this size,” explains Henri Specht, who supervised the construction for the on behalf of Solideo, the company responsible for delivering the works for the Games.
An Olympic village as big as 70 football fields
Installed on more than 50 hectares, the equivalent of 70 football fields, the village straddles three communes, L’Ile-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen. Crossed by the Seine, whose banks have been redeveloped at this location, the village was built around the Cité du cinéma which was formerly occupied by Luc Besson’s company.
This hall will serve as a gigantic restaurant open 24 hours a day during the Olympic Games. When it is operational, the village will offer numerous services: a clinic, training centers, a fitness room, a hairdresser, an entertainment area with bar – without alcohol – and arcade games, a mini-market , a tourist information area, a post office…
Golf carts available to get around the site
Inside the site, golf carts and bicycles will allow you to get around more quickly. A festive square has been set up on the banks of the Seine so that athletes can meet their guests and family. The accommodation will be closed to the outside world. This place will be equipped with a giant screen to follow the events. In front of the entrance to the village, a large bus station will allow you to take a vehicle to reach the competition sites.
President Emmanuel Macron was able to visit the site this Thursday, after two hours of strolling along the Seine between Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen. This demonstrates that France is a nation of builders. This project will have been delivered on time and on budget. And despite Covid, despite the two years of inflation, despite the war in Ukraine, the Solidéo teams (the project manager of the site Editor’s note), all the companies have done an extraordinary job. It is the largest development project, creation of housing, creation of offices in France. And it was done in absolutely record time,” said the Head of State.
Judoka Aurélien Diesse is impatient to settle down there. “It’s magnificent. It’s well thought out, it’s beautiful. Plus I’m from Seine-Saint-Denis, I’m from Bondy, so I’m happy that it’s positioned here and the heritage it has will leave”. Once the Olympic and then Paralympic events are over, the village will be transformed into a residential and office district.