| Pepsi Arena | |
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UEFA Category 4 Stadium |
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| Location | ul. Łazienkowska 3, 00-449 Warsaw, Poland |
| Built | 1927 - 1930 |
| Opened | August 9, 1930 (Legia Warsaw 1–1 Europa Barcelona) |
| Renovated | 2008-2011 |
| Owner | City of Warsaw |
| Operator | Legia Warsaw |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | 460 mln PLN |
| Architect | Maksymilian Dudryk-Darlewski |
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Pepsi Arena (Polish: Stadion Pepsi Arena [Polish pronunciation: [ˈstadiɔn ˈvɔjska pɔlˈskʲɛgɔ iˈmʲɛnʲa marˈʂawka juˈzɛfa piwsut͡sˈkʲɛgɔ]]) is an all-seater football-specific stadium in Warsaw, Poland. It is the home of Legia Warsaw football club, which has been playing there since August 9, 1930. With space for 31,000 spectators it is the 5th biggest football stadium in Ekstraklasa. Former Polish Army Stadium is currently owned by the City of Warsaw.
Since 2011 the official name of the stadium is Pepsi Arena on the basis of a sponsorship agreement with PepsiCo.
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The necessity to build a new stadium for Legia Warszawa players increased in the mid-90s of the Twentieth century, when Legia had one of the most successful periods in its history. Polish championship (Ekstraklasa) (1993 - withdrawn, 1994, 1995), Polish Cup (1995, 1997), semi-final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1992) and the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League (1996) strengthened the demand to modernize or even replace the old facility. Ultimately, however, until 1997 virtually nothing on this subject has been done. The complicated legal status of the land, which belonged to the military, effectively discouraged potential investors. The new hope came together with the new owners - Daewoo company, which bought the majority stake in Legia in the late 1996. Korean club owners were strongly lobbying that the City of Warsaw takes over the property and invests in the new facility, however, the then owner - Military Property Agency - was not willing to waive property. The deadlock existed for the next 5 years, during which time the Koreans left the club. Eventually, the transaction went through on July 29, 2002, when the City of Warsaw acquired the title to the land. Although the market value was estimated at 60 million PLN, the purchase price was agreed at 16 million PLN. In October 2004, Warsaw's chief architect Michał Borowski gave permission to build a new stadium on the said land.[2] The decision led to the announcement of tender for redevelopment of the Legia's facilities.
On September 25, 2006 the City of Warsaw dismissed the offer of the German consortium: HMB Stadien GmbH und Sportstattenbau with Wayss Schlusselfertingbau und Freytag AG and Krupp Stahlbau Hannover GmbH, which had won the tender. Their project involved the construction of the building with the audience capacity from 30,500 to 35,000 spectators, with underground parking, and - as the first sport facility in Poland - was supposed to have fully retractable roof. The City, however, did not accept the consortium's condition that all the funds for the construction be secured by the investor prior to the construction. The Polish side canceled the deal. On September 26, 2006 Legia's new owners - ITI Group - during a meeting with the acting President of Warsaw Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, in the club premises presented their own idea of rebuilding the stadium.[3] Their idea provided for the construction of the stadium in stages (so that the club could still play games during the construction), with the capacity between 31,800 to 34,000 seats (depending whether the standing spaces were included). In November of that year, the club signed a 23-year lease with the City of Warsaw. In June 2007, the Warsaw City Council allocated 360 million PLN funds[4] (which had later to be increased up to 460 million PLN[5]) for the construction of the new stadium according to the club's proposed project. In April 2008 the then President of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz issued a permit for the construction of the stadium. On November 12, 2008 the investor - the City of Warsaw - signed an agreement with a consortium Polimex-Mostostal for the construction works.
On November 17, 2008 the first stage of the new stadium construction began. This stage provided for the demolition and construction of three stands: the southern, the eastern, and the northern one. Works began by the demolition of the club's old premises and of the eastern stand (the famous "Żyleta"). The first stage was completed and taken over by the investor on May 10, 2010. The stadium was officially opened (with only three stands completed) by the match against Arsenal F.C. on August 7, 2010. The second stage of construction, which provided for the demolition and construction of the eastern stand (the main stand - so called "Kryta") was completed and taken over by the investor on May 10, 2011.[6]
Pepsi Arena at Łazienkowska Street is located in Warsaw, in the Śródmieście district, Powiśle area, within the square of the streets: Łazienkowska, Czerniakowska, Kussocińskiego and Myśliwiecka. It was officially opened on August 9 1930, and since then it has been significantly modernized and reconstructed. The most recent reconstruction, November 2008 to March 2011, involved the demolition of all the stands and the construction of brand new ones, with only the historic façade of the main "Kryta" grandstand preserved. The stadium is commonly referred to as the "Nowy Stadion (New Stadium)" in its current form. The new stadium, designed by the German studio JSK Architekten, meets the criteria for the UEFA Elite class, which allows it to host semi-finals of the Champions League. The facility is five-storeys high and is fully roofed. The stadium includes press boxes, office spaces, as well as a fitness and wellbeing center for players and coaching staff. There are also 12 catering stands, a sports bar, Legia club museum and two club merchandise stores located within the stadium.
The stadium's capacity is variable. The general capacity is 31,800 all seating spaces, however it is possible to increase the capacity up to 33,609, by way of creating 6,126 standing spaces (leaving 27,483 seats). These figures include press posts and VIP seats in the total amount of 2,137. The number of press posts can be increased at the cost of seats for regular spectators.
Inside the stadium there is a two-level car park. It is located at the back of the southern, eastern, and northern stands. The first level accommodates 387 vehicles, the second level 392. Moreover, in front of the main grandstand there are spaces for 18 cars (VIP section). In total, the stadium offers 797 parking spaces.
The stadium has four entrances, two on Łazienkowska Street and two on Kanał Piaseczyńskiego. They lead to the promenade, from which the fans may access the stands. Promenade is located approx. 6 meters above the street level. The promenade includes catering vendors stands and toilets. It is the main route of communication between different sections of a particular stand. Fans may not access other stands through the promenade.
The location of the stands compared to the old stadium has not been changed. Only the playing field has been slightly moved in a south-eastern direction. The stadium has four two-level stands. These are: the western stand (the main stand, commonly referred to as "Kryta"), the eastern stand (named after Kazimierz Deyna), the northern stand (commonly referred to as "Żyleta") and the southern stand (unofficially named after Lucjan Brychczy). Within the first level of the southern, eastern and northern stands located are the parking lots.
The seats (chairs) in the stadium are made from polypropylene. They are resistant to weather conditions and mechanical damage. A similar model is already used in Allianz Arena. The stadium has three categories of seats: the regular seats, press seats and VIP seats. Press seats have additional desktop space, power sockets and Internet access.
The railings of the stadium are made of glass, which allows to comfortably watch the sport events. The railings are 130 cm high and 2 cm thick. They consist of double-layer glass shields, which may resist up to 200 kg per square meter.
The entrance gates are equipped with SKIDATA Vario.Gate reader. The stadium is one of the few arenas in the world to use this type of readers. The biggest advantage of this device is the ability to control various types of tickets (e.g. the traditional paper cards, magnetic cards, as well as MMS tickets in mobile phones.) The reader has a color screen, which may display messages to fans entering the venue. The same equipment is being installed in the parking lot, allowing the fans to move around the stadium with only one card. The club also plans to introduce the non-cash payment system, which will accelerate the speed of making various purchases around the stadium.
The stadium has two video screens. They are attached to the steel elements of the roof structure in the north-west and south-east corners of the stadium. The screens are 5,4 m wide and 9,4 m high. Each of them weighs 7 tones.
The Legia club museum is located within the north stand. It was established with the cooperation of Legia's supporters, in particular with its current custodian - Wiktor Bołba. The concept of the museum is to guide visitors through all the periods of club's history. The museum hosts temporary exhibitions commemorating important events in the club's history. It was opened on October 23 2010 - the anniversary of Kazimierz Deyna's death.
Sports Bar & Restaurant "Łazienkowska 3" is located within the north stand (under the famous "Żyleta"). The facility is open not only during the games but also during the week. Inside the restaurant, there are TV screens, where sport events are broadcasted. It was opened on August 7 2010 before the inaugural match against Arsenal F.C.
The TV Studio is located in the south-west corner of the stadium, on the second level of the stands. It is suitable for hosting various kinds of presentations and conferences. Within the studio, the stadiums operational centre is located, where the sound system, lightning and monitoring system are managed.
On July 19 2011, Legia and PepsiCo announced that they signed a 3-year sponsorship agreement, on the basis of which the stadium has adopted the commercial name "Pepsi Arena".[7] The parties to the contract did not reveal the contract price, however, it is rumored that Legia sold the rights to the stadium name for 6 million PLN. The City of Warsaw claims that the city, not Legia, is entitled to dispose of the stadium's naming rights. The city officials threaten to sue the club over the matter.[8]
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