Eastern Romania: Iași updates municipal stadium project
<p>The mayor of Iași, Mihai Chirica, announced on Tuesday, August 6, that he had signed the contract and the order to commence updating the "Regele Ferdinand I" Municipal Stadium project.</p>
<p>The planned stadium, valued at around EUR 110 million, will have a capacity of 24,000 seats and will be built on the outskirts of the municipality, in the Antibiotice area. </p>
<p>Chirica mentioned that the municipality has a 45-hectare plot available and a RON 100 million bank loan to begin the work.</p>
<p>He also noted that architecturally, the new stadium will be inspired by the geometry of King Ferdinand I's crown. An imposing figure in Romanian history, Ferdinand presided over the unification of Romanian territories after the First World War.</p>
<p>The stadium will include a restaurant, café, a museum dedicated to the FC Politehnica Iași team, a fan shop, and a sports merchandise store. </p>
<p>Additionally, there will be parking spaces, commercial areas, food zones, and sanitary facilities. In recent years, Iași City Hall has presented several plans for the new stadium project, initially proposing the location in the Moara de Vânt area, where the new Regional Emergency Hospital is being built.</p>
<p>The biggest stadium in Romania is Bucharest’s Arena Nationala, with over 55,000 seats. The Dan Paltinisanu Stadium in Timisoara, western Romania, is second, with around 33,000 seats, followed by the Ion Oblemenco Stadium in Craiova and Cluj Arena, with over 30,000 seats each.</p>
<p><em><a href="mailto:radu@romania-insider.com">radu@romania-insider.com</a></em></p>
<p><em>(Photo source: Mihai Chirica on Facebook)</em></p>