Despite the fact that environmentalists have criticized a controversial plan to build a dome on the site of Roland Garros because it would further damage the area on the fringes of the leafy Bois de Boulogne on the western outskirts of Paris, Philippe Baudillon, head of Paris 2012, said the bid team has no intention of shelving the plan.
The dome, which would have a capacity of 14,000 to 15,000, would be the venue for judo and badminton if Paris hosts the 2012 Games.
Baudillon told a news conference: “the infrastructure was planned before Paris decided to bid for the Games as part of the development of the Roland Garros stadum”. He dismissed a suggestion that the project might hamper Paris’ 2012 bid and said any comparison to a controversial project for the West Side Stadium, the centrepiece of New York’s 2012 bid, was not relevant. “It’s totally different because our bid does not depend on this project. We don’t need the dome to bid for the Games”.
The project, which includes covering a stretch of motorway to link the new area with the existing one, will cost an estimated 350 million euros and will be partly financed by the French Tennis Federation.
