Tours, a one-time CEV Champions League and CEV Cup winners and six-time national champions, plan to completely renovate their “Robert Grenon” gymnasium in order to meet the high standards of an international volleyball.
The project carried by Tours will be divided into two stages. The first stage, which was marked as the most urgent, will include the renovation of a gymnasium itself, in order to meet the criteria of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB). Thus, at the end of the 2017-2018 season, the area of play that is currently too narrow for the games of the CEV Champions League, will be widened. European volleyball standards require a play area width of at least 23 meters, while the court in “Robert Grenon” is now only 20 meters wide. The work on this will cost 900,000 euros and will be done between May and September 2018. Since the first row of stands will be destroyed, in order to maintain the capacity of 3,000 seats which is the FIVB standard, the new boxes will be built in the galleries. The new LED lighting will also be installed to replace the existing lights, which require too much time to start working.
After this stage, Tours will set off a heavier renovation that will cost about 3.5 million euros and will be finished by 2020. It will solve the problems of a space as Tours will build two more courts to allow a growing number of young people that are registering with the club to have the space to practice and spend time at the premises. A building of a bar, restaurant, library, and a club shop is planned as well.
The “Robert Grenon” gymnasium was built in the early 1950s and opened in 1954. It has experienced many renovations in over sixty years of existence. Originally planned for basketball, it has become a temple of volleyball with Tours.
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