Letzigrund
| Letzigrund Stadium | |
|---|---|
| Letzi birthday cake |
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| World class Zurich in the Letzigrund | |
| Data | |
| place | Badenerstrasse 500 Altstetten , 8048 Zurich , Switzerland
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| Coordinates | 680 461 / 248540 |
| owner | Zurich city |
| operator | Sports Office of the City of Zurich |
| start of building | November 15, 2005 (new stadium) |
| opening | November 22, 1925 (old stadium) August 30, 2007 (new stadium) |
| demolition | 2006 |
| surface | Natural grass with lawn heating |
| costs | 125.2 million CHF (total) |
| architect | Bétrix & Consolascio with Frei & Ehrensperger Architects |
| capacity | 26,104 (Super League) 30,930 (Euro 2008) 25,773 (athletics) 50,044 (concerts with indoor space) |
| Capacity (internat.) | 24,061 |
| playing area | 105 m × 68 m |
| Societies) | |
| Events | |
The Letzigrund Stadium is a Zurich football and athletics stadium . It is the home stadium of the football clubs FC Zurich and GC Zurich as well as the athletics club LC Zurich . The stadium is also used as the annual venue for the World Class Zurich athletics meeting and regularly for large open-air concerts.
The first Letzigrund stadium was opened in 1925 and demolished in 2006. The new building, which was officially opened on August 30, 2007, was the venue for three preliminary round matches during the 2008 European Football Championship .
location
The stadium is located to the west of Zurich in the Altstetten district , around three kilometers from the city center. The flat area was crossed by a Letzi in the Middle Ages .
A stop on tram line 2 of the Zurich public transport company directly in front of the entrance in the south-east is named after the stadium. For major events, extra trams run between the stadium and the main train station . Is little more than a kilometer away, the S-Bahn -Haltestelle Hardbrücke . Special trains with football fans from abroad usually stop at Zurich Altstetten train station, which is a little further away .
New Letzigrund Stadium
Planning and architecture
In 1997 a fundamental decision was made to expand the Letzigrund stadium. In April 2004 a jury selected the architectural proposal "Corculum Imprint" by Bétrix & Consolascio Architects BSA / Frei & Ehrensperger Architects BSA as the winning project.
The new Letzigrund is partially built into the ground, which leads to a relatively low roof height and means that the stadium is literally well embedded in the neighborhood. A covered ramp leads to the highest point of the arena, where there is a restaurant with an overview of the lawn and the running track. This part of the stadium is open to the public, except of course when the match is in progress. A striking feature of the new Letzigrund are the 31 spotlights that have given the stadium the nickname “birthday cake”. The oval roof, resting on just 31 pairs of supports, gives the impression that it is floating above the grandstand.
The owner and client is the City of Zurich (represented by the Building Construction Department). The city also operates the stadium through the Zurich Sports Office.
| Spectator capacity of the new Letzigrund | |
|---|---|
| athletics | 25,773 spectators |
| Soccer Super League | 26,104 spectators |
| Football International | 24,061 spectators |
| European Football Championship 2008 | 30,930 spectators |
| Concerts (with interior) | 50'044 spectators |
Infrastructure
In addition to the stadium with around 26,000 seats (see above), there is a grass pitch, a sauna and a whirlpool (only for the home teams). Underground there is a training track (100 m with sandpit for long jump), a garage with 200 parking spaces, a fitness room and a gym. Numerous fixtures to increase security for spectators are available.
New building
The project competition was opened on December 16, 2002, and the winning design was presented on May 3, 2004. On June 5, 2005, the Zurich electorate approved both the construction loan of CHF 110 million and an additional loan of CHF 11 million to make the stadium fit for the European Championship.
The groundbreaking for the new Letzigrund took place on November 15, 2005. On the open day (August 21, 2006) the public was given the opportunity to get hold of a souvenir from the old Letzigrund (chairs, lawn, tartan track, etc.). The demolition of the old stadium began a day later and was completed at the end of 2006. The official inauguration of the new building took place on August 30, 2007. On September 7, 2007, the athletics meeting 2007 was held in front of 26,500 spectators, the first sporting event in the new stadium.
The cost of the new building was 110 million Swiss francs. In 2018 a court ruled that Implenia would have to pay the additional costs of around CHF 23 million.
Structural damage to the roof
In February 2010 a crack in the roof was discovered and the stadium was therefore closed as a precaution until March 1, 2010. The cause and possible repairs were subsequently investigated - the stadium would be closed for a long time to be feared. However, the stadium was opened again on March 7th with the game between FC Zurich and Lucerne, after 31 temporary supporting pillars had been installed on the roof girders, which ensured the stability of the roof. The investigations had uncovered other construction defects such as rust. Because the pillars sometimes significantly impaired the view of the field, they were not popular with the public. The pillars were removed at the start of the season on July 17, 2010, after the roof had been completely renovated. In 2019, the Zurich Higher Court upheld the District Court's ruling that Implenia is responsible for the construction defects found and the measures taken and must therefore bear the costs incurred.
Other equipment
The Letzi-Mobil is an open ambulance for one person used in the stadium . It is an electric vehicle adapted in Switzerland from the Italian manufacturer alkè. In addition to a driver, there is also a seat behind it (back / back; for example for a doctor or paramedic). This self-propelled stretcher allows a football player, for example , to be gently transported to the regular ambulance and the athlete who is already lying on the stretcher on the side can be treated before and during transport. The playing field itself can thus be cleared more quickly. It is manned by the rescue service personnel on duty.
Old Letzigrund Stadium (1925-2006)
history
The Letzigrund sports field was opened on November 22nd, 1925. It was built by the members of FC Zurich , at that time still a multi-sport club. From then on, the Swiss Football Association had the national team 's games played in Letzigrund, and the first cup final in the history of Swiss football also took place in Letzigrund in 1926. At the beginning, FC Zurich was the owner of the stadium, but the poor economic conditions of the 1930s forced the club to cede the stadium to the city of Zurich in the winter of 1936/37 . The athletics, hockey, boxing and rowing sections then went into business for themselves. During its existence, the Letzigrund was rebuilt and expanded several times: 10 years after it opened, the entire complex had to be renovated. In 1958 a large main grandstand was opened. In 1973 the two grandstands were renovated and roofed over and lighting was installed. Eleven years later, the east stand was also seated. In 1996, an open-air concert ( Bon Jovi ) took place in Letzigrund for the first time .
On August 22, 2006, the demolition of the old Letzigrund began to make way for a new building. The new Letzigrund was officially inaugurated on August 30, 2007. Since September 2007 the stadium has also been the home of the Grasshopper Club .
Infrastructure
The old Letzigrund stadium had a capacity of 23,605 seats, of which 12,000 were covered standing and 11,605 seats (of which 9,167 were covered). In addition to the main field (105 m × 68 m) and the athletics facilities, which were located inside the stadium, the Letzigrund sports complex had three other playing fields (two lawns and one artificial turf) and a smaller hard clay court. There was also a bar and a restaurant within the stadium. In the first basement of the east stand there was a 100 m lane (four lanes) for the athletes. On the roof of the north stand there was a matrix 2-tone display board with a resolution of 192 × 80 light bulbs.
Events
The high-class athletics meeting Weltklasse Zürich , which has been part of the IAAF Diamond League since 2010, takes place annually in Letzigrund . The Zurich stadium was one of the venues for the 2008 European Football Championship in Austria and Switzerland. On May 1, 2010, the European Athletics Association EAA announced the award of the 2014 European Athletics Championships to Zurich in the Letzigrund.
literature
- City of Zurich (ed.): Stadion Letzigrund 2007 / Letzigrund Stadium 2007. gta Verlag, Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-85676-215-5 .
- Sylvain Malfroy: Bétrix & Consolascio. Change of perspective / A Shift in Perspective. gta Verlag, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-85676-226-1 .
Web links
- Official website
- City of Zurich: Letzigrund Stadium
- Pictures of the Letzigrund
- Architects - with model photos of the new building
- Letzigrund concert list (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Facts and Figures ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , stadionletzigrund.ch
- ↑ Implenia loses a legal dispute over Letzigrund In: NZZ , September 13, 2018, accessed on September 13, 2018.
- ↑ Letzigrund Stadium closed until March 1st. In: NZZ . February 11, 2010
- ↑ The Letzigrund Stadium is playing again. In: NZZ. March 1, 2010
- ↑ Clubs compensated for Letzigrund closure. In: NZZ. July 6, 2010
- ↑ Letzigrund Stadium: Implenia has to pay for construction defects. In: NZZ. May 20, 2019, accessed May 21, 2019 .
- ↑ The manufacturer's advertising brochure ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (German) (PDF; 46.75 kB)
- ↑ E-Rescue - Electromobile for the rescue service. ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. On notfallausruestung.ch (with pictures of the «Letzi-Mobil»)
- ↑ European Athletics Championships 2014 will take place in Zurich. In: St. Galler Tagblatt . May 1, 2010
kybunpark (FC St.Gallen) | Letzigrund (FC Zurich) | St. Jakob-Park (FC Basel) | Stade de la Maladière (Neuchâtel Xamax) | Stade de Genève (Servette FC) | Stade de Tourbillon (FC Sion) | Stadio di Cornaredo (FC Lugano) | Wankdorf Stadium (BSC Young Boys) | Stockhorn Arena (FC Thun) | Swissporarena (FC Luzern)