Stadion Zürich legal cup of woes overfloweth

Article posted by Coliseum, May 6^th, 2022

Image: Credit Suisse

The ‘Ensemble’ project on the Hardturm Stadium site in the City of Zürich in Switzerland has got delayed yet again by two to four years.

The project – Stadion Zürich – is a planned stadium in Zürich, Switzerland. It will be the home stadium of top-flights FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich, replacing the Hardturm Stadium which closed in September 2007.

The ‘newsbeezer.com’ stated that originally, an opening for the 2023-2024 football seasons was planned, the City Council stated in a response to an FDP request published recently.

Two voting rights appeals are currently pending in the Federal Supreme Court. The City Council announced that the underlying design plan could not be approved until these were completed.

The ‘newsbeezer.com’ further stated that the length of the delay also depends on whether all judicial authorities appeal against the design plan and the subsequent planning application. The City Council has run out of options to speed up the private construction project.

In September 2020, those eligible to vote said ‘yes’ to the new stadium on the Hardturm site. The planned stadium project ‘Ensemble’ includes a football stadium for 18,000 spectators, a cooperative settlement with non-profit apartments and two high-rise buildings, one of which will house a municipal primary and secondary school. The client is Credit Suisse.

Background

The Hardturm Stadium was a football stadium located in the City of Zürich, Switzerland, which served as the residence of the Grasshopper Club Zürich from 1929 until its closure in 2007. It was also one of the venues for the FIFA World Cup™ in 1954.

Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Niederhasli near Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team which plays in the Swiss Super League (top tier of the Swiss football league system).

The 30,930-capacity Letzigrund Stadium in Zürich, Switzerland, serves as the home stadium of the Grasshopper Club Zürich. The facility was constructed in 1925. The Grasshopper Club has been using it as their home stadium since 2007.

At the time of its opening, the Hardturm Stadium had a capacity for 27,500 spectators, but at the time when it shut up shop its capacity was 17,666.

The stadium closed for good in September 2007, with Grasshoppers having since moved to the Letzigrund Stadium of their local rivals, the Super League team FC Zürich. Hardturm was demolished from December 2008 to make way for a new one, the Stadion Zürich, which would be shared by both the teams. However, the project suffered numerous delays and the property that the Hardturm used to occupy remains vacant.

Hanging fire

An initial project was announced in 2003 and should have been ready for Euro 2008. It was backed by the City of Zürich and Credit Suisse. The multiuse stadium would have had a capacity of 30,000 people. In September 2003, the voters of the City of Zürich approved a credit of 47.7 million Swiss francs for its construction. The project got delayed due to various legal proceedings and their legal cup of woes continues to overfloweth.

In June 2009, it was announced the initial project was dropped and a smaller football stadium with a capacity of 20,000 was planned for 2014-2015. However, this latter project was turned down by a public referendum, in which 50.8 percent of the voters said ‘No’ to the new stadium.

Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland.

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