The immense number of members that Boca has, between active and adherents, makes La Bombonera, inaugurated in 1940, increasingly smaller. Thus, week after week there are tens of thousands of Xeneizes fans who do not get tickets, an issue that Juan Román Riquelme promised to address in his second term, and to which he referred in recent days, ruling out that Boca is going to move from La Bombonera. “If we leave here, the history of the club would be lost,” he said.
The truth is that there is a proposal in which its capacity would increase. A new project that had little impact so far and with which it would not be necessary to buy the two half blocks in front of the stadium, as had traditionally been thought.
The promoter of this project is Rodrigo Vidal, an architect who graduated from the UBA, with a master’s degree from Harvard and works in the United States, China, Europe and Argentina.
“Boca needs a bigger stadium because the fans don’t get in, nor do the members, so we have to find a solution. Today there are many proposals to build new venues, to abandon La Bombonera, to invade streets, to buy from neighbors. So, what I did was a project where you don’t have to look for anyone and you don’t have to throw away the current one either. “Everything is resolved within the property and is in total coincidence with what Riquelme wants,” he said.
Regarding the capacity of the new Bombonera, Vidal assured: “The new field would have a capacity for 90 thousand spectators, it would be the largest in Argentina. With FIFA standards, and it would also have covered stands,” he added.
The expert highlighted that this project will include a master plan where work will be carried out to consolidate a multipurpose stadium for basketball and events with a capacity of close to 16 thousand people. In addition, this same space would have covered parking for 4,000 cars, shops, a hotel, and a boarding house in what would be the main renovations of this complex.
Vidal also referred to the stipulated time that this construction would take. “It will take about 16 months, it is a fairly quick project for what it is. Ideally, it should be faster. Subsequently, the master plan works will be carried out, which are in parallel. When one part ends, the other continues once the court is finished,” he noted.
Finally, Vidal added that they are in the presentation stage of the project and that its development will essentially depend on the decision that Riquelme makes.