RAAL La Louvière English-style venue plans

Article posted by Coliseum, May 22^nd, 2023

Image: RAAL La Louvière

The Belgian association football club RAAL La Louvière (Belgium) – since it was founded in 2019 – has proven its pitch prowess. From the time it was formed, the club has had two long-cherished ambitions – the first is to build an avant-garde training center and the second is the construction of a state-of-the-art home ground.

‘dayFREURO’ stated that the first objective has been met. If everything goes hunky-dory, the second objective will be realized by the opening of the 2025-2026 seasons. The club hopes to receive the necessary permits before the end of the year.

The Royal Association Athlétique Louviéroise La Louvière, abbreviated to RAAL La Louvière, is a Belgian association football club located in La Louvière, in the province of Hainaut (municipality in Belgium). The club, founded in 2009 out of a merger, plays in the Belgian National Division 1, the third tier of Belgian football.

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The Stade Communal du Tivoli is a multiuse stadium in La Louvière, Belgium. It is currently used mostly for football matches. It was the home ground of R.A.A. Louviéroise. The stadium holds 12,500 people and was built in 1972.

Said Salvatore Curaba, President of RAAL La Louvière, while presenting the project to the supporters, “The application seeking permit has been submitted and if approved, work could start on the new home venue of the club this year itself. If everything goes on track, the arena will be ready by mid-2025.”

The chic venue will have a capacity to accommodate 8,000 spectators and the price tag will stand at 16 million euros.

Observed Curaba, “An 8,000-seat stadium may not look like a huge venue to a lot of people, but when compared to Belgium standards and taking into account the factor that five percent of the population of the City regularly attends football matches, a 8,000-seat stadium is good enough for a City like La Louvière.”

The stadium will boast astonishing amount of verdant space. It will not only serve as the residence of RAAL La Louvière but will also be the home arena of the U-23 team. A changing room for women players will also come up as well as restrooms. Each stand will boast a refreshment stand, a fan shop, spaces devoted to people with reduced mobility, dressing rooms for the VIP guests, as well as a command post for the police.

Informed Toni Turi, head honcho of RAAL La Louvière, “The stadium will be done in ‘English-style’ with the spectators’ stands to sit at the edge of the pitch without a fence between the stands and the pitch. The RAAL La Louvière will boast a home facility which no other club has enjoyed in Wallonia (region in Belgium) in the last 50 years. If we can give shape to an English-style stadium, it will be quite a feat.”

‘dayFREURO’ further stated that the outside of the planned venue will be lent a spectacular touch.

Added Turi, “It will be a modest size stadium and the futuristic acoustic system to be in place will ensure there is minimum possible noise pollution and the neighborhood does not get disturbed. The oeuvre of renowned Louviérois artist Daniel Pelletti will adorn the facility which will tell the story of La Louvière. This is an idea of Late Franco Dragone (Italy-born Belgian theater Director). Other local artists like Philippe Decressac or Miguel Diaz will also collaborate with us.”

No decision has been taken yet on a name for the planned venue as Turi further informed, “We are looking for a naming rights partner. We do have few sponsors but nothing has been finalized as yet.”

A Green strip will be created between the old and the new stadium. It will allow passers-by to cross the site on foot, which is presently not possible.

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