The Stavros Niarchos Foundation delivers the “Municipal Sports and Leisure Park” to the Municipality of Kallithea

The project, an SNF grant totaling €5.92 million, is delivered fully completed and operational, and the Municipality of Kallithea undertakes its full and exclusive management, for the use and benefit of all citizens. 

After approximately three years of intensive works and strict adherence to the project’s original time schedule, the Foundation is delivering a complete and multifunctional Park, in a 28,000 m2 site, in an area of the Old Horse Racetrack site. The park is a testament to the SNF’s commitment to create a project that will contribute towards improving the quality of life for the citizens of Kallithea and the wider area, as well as increasing the number of free green spaces in the capital. 

The “Municipal Sports and Leisure Park” of Kallithea is connected, in terms of both location and design, with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), which is currently under construction on the Park’s northeastern side. Italian architect Renzo Piano, who has also designed the SNFCC, was responsible for the design and supervision of the construction of the “Municipal Sports and Leisure Park”, as well as of the related supporting facilities, in order to achieve the desired aesthetic harmony, and the symbolic but also practical coexistence of these two separate projects. 

The Foundation’s grant included the design, development and construction of the overall project, which includes an open air Olympic size swimming pool, a children’s pool, a football pitch, and a playground, as well as three building structures housing supporting facilities, spanning a total of 1,000 m2, and including a cafeteria and a multi-purpose hall for the requirements of the Municipality of Kallithea. The grant also includes the creation of approximately seventy free parking spaces within the grounds of the Park, as well as the landscaping and development of the site, through the planting of high and low plants, and the installation of irrigation and lighting systems, together with internal traffic arrangements. 

Andreas Dracopoulos, Co-President of the SNF Board of Directors, stated: “Today, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation delivers to the Municipality of Kallithea a contemporary project that was developed in accordance with the highest quality, environmental and technical specifications. The project is of profound social nature, as it was created for the benefit of the citizens and with the primary aim of being used by everyone, free of charge. It is also the first, important step towards the total regeneration of Faliro Bay. To us, the completion of the Municipal Sports and Leisure Park of Kallithea serves as testament to our faith in projects that contribute to public-private partnerships, as effective means of serving public welfare in Greece.”

The “Municipal Sports and Leisure Park” was designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, in collaboration with the local architectural firm Betaplan, and it was constructed by Ballian Techniki S.A.