San Mamés Barria

San Mames
Full name	San Mames Barria
Location	Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
Coordinates	Coordinates: 43°15′51″N 2°57′01″W / 43.264284°N 2.950366°W / 43.264284; -2.950366
Broke ground	May 26, 2010
Opened	Foreseen for 2014
Owner	San Mames Barria, S.L.[1]
Operator	Athletic Bilbao
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	211 million € ($294 - ₤187)
Architect	César Azkarate
Structural engineer	ACXT Idom
Capacity	55.500
Field dimensions	105 × 68 m (344 × 223 ft)
Tenants
Athletic Bilbao

San Mames Barria (Spanish: Nuevo San Mamés, English: New San Mames) is the name of the Athletic Bilbao's new football stadium, which is under construction. The stadium will replace the old San Mamés as the home of Athletic Bilbao.

The project was approved in March 2006. Construction is due to start in june 2010. The stadium will have an all-seater capacity of 55,500. The new stadium will be built next to the existing San Mamés on land that was occupied until 2003 by the Bilbao International Trade Fair. Three quarters of the new stadium will be built and then matches will take place in the new stadium, and the old one will be demolished and a new residential development (yet to be named) will be built on the land.

History

Construction

On 26 May 2010 at 12:00pm the ground-breaking ceremony took place at San Mamés. The event was attended by: the Lehendakari of the Basque Country, Patxi López; the Deputy-General of Biscay, José Luis Bilbao; the mayor of Bilbao, Iñaki Azkuna; the Chairman of Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa, Mario Fernández; the President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Ángel María Villar and the President of Athletic Club, Fernando García Macua.

References

1. ^ Athletic Club, Basque Government, Biscay Provincial Council and Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa.

External links

• San Mames Barria Official website
• New San Mames Stadium at CandidaturaIberica.com
• New San Mamés Stadium Unofficial Site
• Images of New San Mames
• discussion about the new stadium at skyscrapercity.com