Greece will complete a comprehensive renovation of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA) by the end of September, restoring the venue's iconic Santiago Calatrava-designed roof structures and other facilities left neglected since the 2004 Olympic Games, Minister of State Akis Skertsos has said ahead of the Games' 22nd anniversary.
Mr. Skertsos said Greece "won" the challenge of hosting the 2004 Olympics but failed the subsequent test of maintaining the infrastructure it left behind, calling the years of neglect "a collective failure."
He said a full renovation program launched in 2022, funded through the EU's Recovery and Resilience Fund and overseen by Greece's sovereign wealth fund, the Sports Ministry and OAKA's management, followed lengthy negotiations with European authorities to secure the complex's inclusion in the recovery program.
The renovation includes structural and functional repairs across all buildings, energy upgrades, pool and velodrome improvements, new fire safety systems, and restoration of metal structures at the complex's entrances, the Wall of Nations and the agora area.
The most symbolic element, Mr. Skertsos said, is the restoration of Mr. Calatrava's roof canopies, which required extensive structural repair work two decades after becoming an emblem of the 2004 Games.
"The state is judged not only by its ability to build, but by its ability to maintain," Mr. Skertsos wrote, adding that Greece now has a long-term operational and maintenance plan to keep OAKA functioning as both a modern metropolitan sports venue and a public space open to residents and visitors, aiming to avoid another costly rescue effort in future decades.