Why Santos haven't set demolition date as new Vila nears announcement | OneFootball

Santos is eagerly anticipating the announcement of the contract signing with WTorre for the construction of the new Vila Belmiro on the upcoming October 12th, the date when the stadium, which will be demolished, celebrates its 109th anniversary. The timeline was revealed by president Marcelo Teixeira this Monday at the CT Rei Pelé.

Teixeira, who took over the management of Peixe at the end of 2023 after winning the elections, praised the partnerships the club has been forming to modernize its facilities—such as the renovation of the players’ accommodation at the training center—and mentioned the agreement with WTorre.

“Regardless of the results on the field, the management has been achieving its pillars from the electoral campaign. This is fundamental. Santos doesn’t have resources, but finds partners who make these growth opportunities possible in various areas. Among them, the partnership with WTorre, which is now scheduled for us, on October 12th, Vila Belmiro’s day, to announce all the plans and commercial conditions of the new arena. And with that, we will inform the next steps that are part of the new stadium process. So, it’s essential for the management to be working with partners seeking to make these efforts happen,” revealed Teixeira.

Santos still has no date for Vila Belmiro’s demolition

Although the announcement is near, Peixe is cautious in defining the demolition date for Vila Belmiro. Marcelo Teixeira revealed that this will depend on the sale of products, such as seats and boxes. In August, the Santos City Hall approved the project for the new arena, which will have a capacity for about 30,000 people.

“The only forecast we are not yet announcing is about the demolition. Why? Because the demolition will depend on the sale of products and memberships. When we reach the sales and ownership targets, then we can make a prediction for the demolition timeline. It’s the only timeline that is not yet defined. The others, in terms of documents, permits, everything, we already have defined. We have the entire business plan defined, which will be announced exactly. On that day, other dates will be announced with a schedule defined between Santos and WTorre. So, during this period, we will wait for the sales plan response, so that Santos can move to another phase: the process of interruption and the beginning of the Arena’s construction,” he explained.

The forecast is that the construction of the new arena will take between 36 and 42 months, that is, approximately 40 months until its full completion, including the demolition of the current structure.

With an estimated investment of around R$ 700 million, the new Santos arena will be built on an area of approximately 68,000 square meters. The stadium will be multi-purpose, with suitable facilities to host concerts, cultural, corporate, and social events.

Without Vila, where will Santos play?

The concern that hangs over Santos fans, even while Vila Belmiro still stands, is: where will Santos play its home games while the new arena is under construction? President Marcelo Teixeira revealed that there is an agreement with the Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu and ongoing talks with WTorre to have more than one option for hosting games. Teixeira also mentioned the partnership with São Paulo for Morumbis.

“We have plans to play at Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu, we already have this agreement formalized, and we are also waiting on matters that do not depend on Santos, but rather on documentation related to Pacaembu, so that we can define what does not prevent Santos from playing in other stadiums where we also have partnerships, such as with São Paulo,” revealed Marcelo Teixeira.

“Of course, the partnership with São Paulo is very factual, very direct and momentary, for a few games, different from the need Santos will have after the stadium’s demolition, but we also have other options that we are discussing with WTorre, not just as a criterion of having the new stadium, or another stadium for Santos to play in, but also in terms of the club’s administrative agreement, in terms of using a new gymnasium space so that Santos can develop activities related to Olympic sports. So, there are other negotiations being made and concluded that do not involve only the location of games in the state after the demolition,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.