PARIS, France – One year and a day ahead of the reopening of Longchamp racecourse, the course has received a new name, ParisLongchamp, as announced on Friday at the construction site of what will become the most modern major racecourse in Europe.
By its completion, he project of architectural firm Perrault will require 15,000 cubic metres of concrete, 550 tons of steel, 50km of technical wiring and the work of up to 700 people on the site. The addition of 150 trees and more lawns will make for more shaded green space, thus returning to an environment closer to the original Longchamp.
Commenting during the site visit, Olivier Delloye, Managing Director of France Galop, said, “The building is to be delivered in early November. Then we will have a lot more to do for the opening, including installing the technical equipment of the site. The new Longchamp is a huge opportunity because you do not often have the chance to experience the creation of a brand new course. Obviously, Longchamp has existed for a long time, but we are now talking about a completely different site. It is an opportunity but also an obligation to succeed. ParisLongchamp will be a success if it attracts more racegoers and moreover new audiences: young people, families, young Parisian executives who will come from the nearby La Défense to enjoy the show and maybe come back to learn more, get to know our world and maybe become new owners.”
The public will be divided among the first three floors of the grandstand, with horsemen and owners on the fourth, and VIPs on the top floor, where a 250-seat panoramic restaurant and terrace will be situated along with 16 suites. Fifty boxes with four or six seats have been installed on the third floor.
Differentiated watering of the tracks will allow a better selectivity according to the activity, and the drainage between the false straight line and the elbow leading to the last stretch has been reworked.
Along with an increase in stabling from 80 boxes to 116 and the addition of a third pre-parade ring, the paddock has been moved 25 metres to the north so in future the horses will now leave for the track at one end.
Delloye added, “Our audience must feel ParisLongchamp is not just about beautiful galleries and a beautiful work of art. They must see a real difference in what is offered to them, in their experience. It will also show our ability to develop more revenue around our core business, which is horseracing. We must seize that opportunity to make our great events more appealing and monetise them. Finally, to make Longchamp successful, it will be necessary to set up a model of operation that will also apply to our other racecourses, because they must in turn benefit from what can be done here. ParisLongchamp will be a flagship for our whole institution.”
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