La Liga side Valencia has presented its revised plan for finishing work on its new Mestalla stadium, announcing a budget cut of €60M ($80.7M), according to FOOTBALL ESPANA. Valencia President Amadeo Salvo and the Valencia board have "worked to reduce the costs required to complete work on Los Che’s new ground, which has stalled in recent years amid growing debt." The club on Wednesday announced "where those cuts have taken place, with some adjustments to the originally planned stadium, resulting in the budget significantly dropping." The project's chief architect, Mark Fenwick, said that to date, €98M ($132M) has been spent and "the initial budget to finish it" was €160M ($215M). Fenwick estimated that "it will take about" €90M ($121M) to finish the project. The revised plan "sees the capacity dropped from 75,000 to 652,000, the number of parking spaces under the stadium also reduced, the roof redesigned and interior spaces such as VIP boxes left incomplete until sold." Salvo said, "Since the arrival of this board, we have worked hard to carry out one of the great goals of the fans, which is to see the completion of the Nou Mestalla. Our goal is to find solutions and seek investors for an objective that the future of Valencia depends on at all levels -- sporting, social, institutional, economic. ... The fans and Valencia will have a five star stadium, suited to current realities, but that will be the pride of all of us" (FOOTBALL ESPANA, 11/13). In Madrid, Manu Gimeno reported the "project is now moving down two paths." On one hand, "it is looking to increase revenue, and on the other, to establish a business plan to allow use of the stadium 365 days per year." In reducing the budget, "the amount of parking spaces will drop from 3,450 to 225 during the first phase." The stadium's roof will also now "cover only 75% of spectators instead of 100%" (EL MUNDO, 11/13).
