Coppa America, il sindaco di San Francisco ha deciso: tutte le basi saranno al Pier 80

San Francisco, USA- Il Sindaco di San Francisco Edwinn Lee ha annunciato oggi che tutti i team della 34AC saranno basati al Pier 80, quello più a Sud, dove attualmente c’è il grosso capannone di Oracle. Il race Village sarà al Pier 27-29. Cade invece l’uso del Molo 30-32.

La notizia era nell’aria da giorni, perchè da un lato il costo per riabilitare il molo 30-32 era raddoppiato rispetto ai 55 milioni di dollari iniziali, dall’altro i Consiglieri avevano visto pochissima gente a San Diego e quindi capito che gli introiti sbandierati dall’organizzazione 14 mesi fa, all’atto della firma dell’accordo, erano irrealistici. Nonostante l’approvazione dello Studio di Impatto Ambientale, inoltre, c’era già un gruppo di cittadini che voleva far causa (nota come “causa Peskin”). Ciò si spiega anche con la lotta politica interna alla città di San Francisco, dove il gruppo contrario all’attuale sindaco è anche contrario all’organizzazione della Coppa. Da notare come ciò anticipi il pronunciamento del Board os Supervisors della città, atteso per il 28 febbraio.

Il video della conferenza stampa:

Questo il comunicato stampa emesso dall’ufficio del sindaco di SF e da AC Event Authority:

MAYOR LEE & AMERICA’S CUP EVENT AUTHORITY ANNOUNCE CONSOLIDATED VENUE PLAN FOR 34^TH AMERICA’S CUP

San Francisco, CA—Mayor Edwin M. Lee and the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) announced today a consolidated venue plan for the 34^th America’s Cup, removing Piers 30-32 for use during the America’s Cup events, consolidating all racing teams at Pier 80 and build a race village at Pier 27-29.

“We are excited to host the 34^thAmerica’s Cup, one of the world’s greatest international sporting events, in San Francisco and benefit from the jobs and economic impacts that come with it,” said Mayor Lee. “This consolidated venue plan with the teams at Pier 80 will ensure we are ready for races this year and in 2013 and brings new investment and improvements to our City’s Southern waterfront.”

“We want to thank the Mayor, his staff and the City of San Francisco for their incredible support and efforts working with us to make our collective goal of a remarkable race a reality. We believe that these changes will further the progress towards our collective goal while maintaining major investments in City Infrastructure,” said America’s Cup Event Authority Board Member Stephen Barclay. “We look forward to continuing our work with the Mayor and the City and delivering all the benefits this race will bring.”

The additional development at Pier 80 in Dogpatch and the Bayview will mean millions of dollars in improvements and job opportunities in one of the City’s most underserved areas. The infrastructure improvements and long-term development rights associated with the Event Authority’s investments, originally proposed for team bases at Piers 30-32, will now no longer be necessary for races in 2012 and 2013.

The America’s Cup World Series races will be held in San Francisco from August 11 – 19 and August 27 – September 2, 2012. The Louis Vuitton Cup, the America’s Cup Challenger Series, will be held in San Francisco from July 4 – September 1, 2013 and the America’s Cup Finals will be held September 7 – 22, 2013.