Works began today (6th) that will transform Arena 3 of the Barra da Tijuca Olympic Park, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, into the Isabel Salgado Olympic Educational Gym (GEO). The full-time school will serve around 900 students from the municipal network starting in 2024.
The action is foreseen in the new Games Legacy Plan for the Olympic Park, presented by the City Hall in July last year. The venue hosted taekwondo and fencing competitions at the Olympics and judo at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
The gymnasium will have 24 classrooms, a food and nutrition unit, a multipurpose and teaching support room and sports facilities with two multi-sports courts and areas for judo and other fights, table tennis and gymnastics. According to the City Hall, the planned investment is R$ 26.6 million.
According to Mayor Eduardo Paes, the legacy plan was abandoned for 4 years, being resumed in 2021.
“These arenas were not built to be white elephants, but for the population to use afterwards. We are showing that everything that was planned as an Olympic Legacy will be delivered. From the beginning, our motto has always been ‘the city should use the Games and not the other way around’”.
The name of the GEO is a tribute to the volleyball player Isabel who died last month, Paes said.
“We are honoring a great athlete who was Isabel, a woman engaged in the life of the city and the country, who used her space in sport to defend youth and democratic values. It is an honor to be able to give the name of this gym to a person that we want to inspire the kids”, said the mayor.
The free activities that took place at Arena Carioca 3, with more than 2,000 people assisted per month in schools for different sports, were transferred to the Velodrome, also in the Olympic Park.
GEO
The Olympic Educational Gyms project was created in 2012, called Olympic Experimental Gyms at the time. They are full-time elementary schools, with the main objective of giving students with sports skills the opportunity to develop their potential, combined with formal education.
Currently, the GEOs have 4,551 students enrolled in ten units: two in Santa Cruz, two in Pedra de Guaratiba, Santa Teresa, Caju, Realengo, Pitangueiras, São Cristóvão and Senador Camará.
Other works
In March, dismantling began. of the Arena do Futuro, following the original legacy proposal?? During Rio 2016, the venue, with a capacity for 12,000 people, hosted handball disputes at the Olympics and goalball at the Paralympics.
The materials are being reused in the construction of four new schools in the west zone, for a total of 1,700 students. The investment is R$ 33.4 million and, according to the city hall, represents a 20% saving in new constructions.
The City Hall donated part of the structure of the stands and roof of the Arena do Futuro for Associação Atlética Portuguesa, on Ilha do Governador, in the north of the city.
In May, the dismantling of the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) began. Half of the structure will be used in the construction of the Gentileza Intermodal Terminal, in the port region of Rio, with delivery scheduled for the end of 2023 and estimated to receive 130,000 passengers per day. The rest of the material will be sold through bidding.
Arenas 1 and 2 and the Tennis Center will be granted to the private sector for a period of 15 years, with expected investments of R$ 25 million. The Velodrome will house the free sports activities that are currently being developed at Arena 3.
With the dismantling of the Aquatic Center, the Olympic swimming pool will be installed next to the future athletics track. Part of the installation’s structures was donated to Bangu Atlético Clube and to the Lins Imperial Samba School, which will improve acoustic insulation. The club received materials to cover the stands, the transmission area, the parking lot and the access areas to the bathrooms and locker rooms at Estádio Moça Bonita, in the west zone of the city.
