Yucatán stadium project delayed, and its deadline is in doubt

Yucatán’s government says the new stadium will be built with private funds and will serve as a key piece of infrastructure for the state: Photo: Courtesy

What became of Yucatan’s Sustainable Stadium?

Construction work on Mexico’s most technologically advanced sports complex never got started in March as promised. Its original 2023 completion date would appear to be unlikely.

The Estadio Sostenible de Yucatán is planned for the more affluent north. It was announced in 2020 as an ecologically ‘sustainable’ project, upstaging the renovated Kukulcan stadium in the south.

Render of Mérida’s future stadium in its baseball configuration. Photo: Courtesy

If it comes to fruition, it will be the new home to both the Venados football club and the Leones de Yucatán baseball team. It will also be a concert venue for up to 32,000 people, much larger than Yucatán’s current best option, the 10,000-seat Foro GNP Seguros, formerly Coliseo Yucatán, which opened in 2014.

Aside from seats that can all be moved and to accommodate either a rectangular soccer field or a baseball diamond, three rings of private luxury boxes are planned, said Stadium Database.

The stadium will become the first one across Mexico to receive the LEED Platinum certificate, the highest credential for sustainability.

Mérida’s new stadium complex is also expected to have a hotel, museum, shopping center, and other amenities.

But resistance from citizens and overwhelming permission and licensing procedures have been progressing slower than expected, according to local media. Before the construction permit is granted, an environmental impact statement, an urban impact study regarding traffic and infrastructure, and an INAH permit have to go through.

Investments are also still being sought, whether from local, national or international sources.

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