Aquatic Palace meets FINA's standards

/By Trend/

By Nigar Orujova

The construction work is underway in the Aquatic Palace in Baku ahead of this year's historic Baku 2015 European Games. The project is going ahead in accordance with requirements of the International Swimming Federation.

The palace was established in August 2012, with the aim of developing water sports in Azerbaijan and organizing competitions at the local and international levels. In a short time, South Korean company Securo Co. Ltd completed the design of the palace and construction work began immediately.

The construction works are underway in a six hectare area. The facility covering an area of 66,000 square meters will have three swimming pools.

The first pool of 50 meters long and 25 meters wide is designed for competitions. The second pool is intended for training. The length of the pool for diving is 25 meters and its width is 20 meters.

In addition, the palace will have fitness rooms, a restaurant, a conference room, offices and other utility rooms.

The area around the Aquatic Palace will be used to build ancillary structures and an above-ground car park for 500 cars. Sports competitions in the palace can be watched by 6,000 spectators.

All the conditions for the training of athletes and organization of competitions of national and international levels will be available here. The construction work is carried out by local and foreign companies.

The European Games Park being set up on an area of 18 hectares will consist of three sports facilities – for competitions in water polo, beach volleyball and football, and basketball. There are plans to construct a two-tier functional link between these facilities.

An area has also been allocated to create functional areas consisting of four parts. The European Games Park is set to accommodate meeting and conference rooms, cafes and functional rooms.

The biggest sporting event in Azerbaijan's history, the Baku 2015 European Games will attract more than 6,000 athletes to represent 50 countries in 20 sports during 17 days of competition on June 12-28.

The games will take place in 21 stadiums and facilities in Baku and Mingachevir city.