Moscow's Luzhniki sports complex celebrates 55th birthday

MOSCOW (Itar-Tass) - One of Moscow's major attractions, the
legendary Luzhniki sports complex celebrates on Sunday its 55th birthday.
Its story goes back as far as 1956, as a solemn opening ceremony
preceded the first Games of the peoples of the USSR. The idea of building
the country's main stadium arose long before that day, but its
implementation has prevented by World War II. It was only nine years after
it was over that the project was renewed. The sports complex, built in
record time - only 450 days - became a real nation-wide construction
project.
For more than half a century Luzhniki hosted thousands of major
sporting events, including World and European championships in practically
all kinds of sports - from ice racing to athletics. The complex's most
festive year was 1980, when it hosted the XXII Summer Olympic Games.
Besides sporting events, Luzhniki become a venue for various
recreational activities, including biggest festivals and concerts
featuring foreign stars. Every year the complex hosts almost half of all
concerts of local and foreign popular singers, held in Moscow. In
addition, the Luzhniki can be called also a political arena: in 1989 there
were meetings with Boris Yeltsin, and on November 21, 2007 - an election
rally for Vladimir Putin.
The sports complex occupies the area of 180 hectares along the
picturesque banks of the Moskva River and includes 140 different
structures. A large sports arena, housing 80 thousand spectators, is the
center of the architectural ensemble. The stadium complies with FIFA and
UEFA requirements, it is among five-star European football stadiums, and
it has a status of elite. Other major sporting facilities of the complex
are the Small Sports Arena with a capacity 8,700 spectators, a swimming
pool with seats for eight thousand spectators, the Palace of sports that
can accommodate up to 11,500 people. There are football fields, tennis
courts, a sports town, and even an area for beach volleyball.
The complex's territory has many monuments which reflect its history:
a monument to the Moscow Olympics, a monument to the UEFA Champions League
final. The monument to those who died at stadiums of the world reminds of
the most tragic day in the history of Luzhniki - on October 20, 1982
stampede after the match claimed lives of many fans. The Alley of Fame
features monuments to outstanding sportsmen of the country - to Nikolai
Starostin, Lev Yashin, Eduard Streltsov, etc.
Last summer, during the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the
Moscow Olympics-80, the Olympic Flame Bowl, dismantled 14 years earlier,
was restored. By the way, the Olympic flame in Luzhniki was burning not
only during the Olympic Games in 1980, but at the Moscow World Music
Festival in 1989, and during the last concert of Viktor Tsoi /popular
singer/ in 1990.
But apart from this rich history Luzhniki has ambitious plans for the
future. Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that "renewal of the complex
has already begun."
He promised to make a new ice rink, to reconstruct the swimming pool,
renovate the main sites. He assured Muscovites and guests that Luzhniki
has always been and will be open for anyone who loves sports and health.
Sobyanin also spoke about preparations for the World Championship in
Athletics due there in 2013.
In late April, the mayor said that the sports complex should belong to
the Moscow city government, not an individual. A few days later, Director
Vladimir Aleshin quit, and in mid-May prosecutors found numerous
violations at the Luzhniki trade complex. City officials decided to cancel
the order of 2003, which permitted the sports complex's use for trade.
A project of reconstruction and renovation of the Olympic complex's
facilities is due by September 1.