Japan Government Eyes Keeping Olympic Stadium Costs Below $1.3 Billion

Japanese government sources said that it is seeking to keep construction costs of the new National Stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics below 160B yen ($1.3B), "after scrapping the initial design because cost estimates had snowballed" to 252B yen ($2B), according to KYODO. But the envisioned ceiling, which is to be decided possibly on Aug. 28 or 31, "is still higher than the initially estimated cost" of 130B yen in '12 for the main Olympics stadium, reflecting rising material prices and personnel costs. According to the sources, "the stadium is expected to have 80,000 seats to also meet requirement" of potentially hosting future football World Cups. Under a set of guidelines adopted for the new stadium earlier this month, "the government decided to give up on building a retractable roof to cover the stadium field to minimize construction costs." It "has also left room for the structure to be used after the Olympics for nonsports events such as concerts" (KYODO, 8/23).