Construction on the main venues for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games in the Peruvian capital is entering the final stage with
noticeable progress, but plenty remains to be done ahead of the July 26 inauguration.
While most of the key venues are expected to be ready in March, some will likely not be finished until a few weeks before
the Games.
The largest single project is the
Pan American Village, a complex of seven towers comprising 1,096 apartments that will house some 8,000 athletes and support staff during the Games.
The towers, each 20 stories tall, are up, and the focus is now on applying the finishing touches to the interiors and to landscaping in the exterior areas.
Work on the Pan American Village is scheduled to be complete by the end of March.
That is also the target date for improvements to the National Sports Village —the flagship venue— which is to host track-and-field events, badminton, handball, bowling, track cycling, diving, judo, swimming, figure skating, squash, and table tennis.
The complex will include an aquatic center with three additional pools, a 24-lane bowling alley, improvements to the existing track-and-field stadium, and a roof for the velodrome.
While much of the work is already done, organizers do not expect the aquatic center to be completed before the end of May.
At the Regional Sports Village in Callao, next door to Lima, workers have erected a 6,000-seat pavilion for the volleyball and taekwondo competitions. They will also construct two racquetball courts there.
Miguel Grau Coliseum is being refitted to host wrestling and boxing matches and the stadium at Lima's University of San Marcos has been renovated with synthetic turf, dressing rooms, and 22,000 additional seats for soccer matches.
The Andres Avelino Caceres Sports Complex is getting new fields for field hockey and rugby, softball and baseball diamonds, four basketball courts, an Olympic-sized pool for water polo, and space for 8,500 spectators, among other upgrades.
In Lima's Villa El Salvador district, near the Pan American Village, work is underway on a 5,000-seat pavilion for karate and judo events.
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Published: 1/25/2019