The Robert Poirier Stadium, or Villejean Athletics Stadium, is an indoor athletics stadium, inaugurated 5 July 2015 on the Villejean Campus at the University of
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
. It is designed to aid in the development of sport excellence on campus. It is dependent on the
University of Rennes 2
Rennes 2 University (UR2; french: Université Rennes 2) is a public university located in Upper Brittany, France. It is one of the four universities in the Academy of Rennes.The two others are: UBO (Brest), Western Brittany, and UBS in Lorient - ...
for resources. It accommodates 1200 spectators, including 734 seated.
The stadium originated during the development of the
Campus de Ker Lann during the 1990s. Several covered multi-sport stadiums were planned there, but they were abandoned due to lack of funding. Only with the development of the
Campus for Sport Excellence in Bretagne at the beginning of the 2010s did the project begin to be realized.
History
First projects
The creation of the
Campus de Ker Lann at
Bruz
Bruz ( or ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.
Geography
Bruz is located near the center of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, 14 km from Rennes. It is near the confluence of the rivers Vil ...
, in the suburbs of
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
, by the General Council of Ille-et-Vilaine in the 1990s was to include a multi-sports complex at a cost of €65 million to be paid for mainly by the
Department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of Ille-de-Vilaine. This was discussed in 1993 but did not come to pass.
[Jérôme Gicquel ]
« Villejean dans les starting-blocks »
in ''20 minutes'', 3 July 2012, access-date 8 July 2012 The majority
of the right from the
General Council General council may refer to:
In education:
* General Council (Scottish university), an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland
* General Council of the University of St Andrews, the corporate body of all graduates and senio ...
supported the development of the campus, while the majority
from the left at
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
(and some of the local academics) were against it, preventing its realization.
The project was revived when the
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
Jean-Louis Tourenne became head of the
General Council of Ille-et-Vilaine following the
2004 cantonal elections. The opening of the complex on the Campus de Ker Lann was scheduled for 2008.
[Emmanuel Schmitt]
« Stade d'athlé : Yade officialise enfin sa création.
/ref> The €45 million cost of the building was to be borne entirely by the General Council[Jérôme Hervé]
in ''Le Mensuel de Rennes'', 1 July 2012, access-date 8 July 2012 But budget cuts following the global economic crisis jeopardized the project.
Project recovery
The project financing was resolved on 31 March 2008 when an agreement between Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
and the state was reached for project funding,[The funding comes from an investment by the region in four major sports facilities, including the Lanester Velodrome Stadium, a covered athletics stadium in Saint Brieuc, and a sports and sports hall in ]Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
*Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
*Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
**Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Brest, ...
. bringing respectively €5 and €4 million. At the time, it was still the intention to locate the building on the Campus de Ker Lann.
At the same time, CREPS Dinard saw its existence threatened from 2008 and a closure was planned for 2010. A backup plan was then mounted by including the University Rennes 2 in creating a campus for sporting excellence in Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
. This project was approved on 27 October 2009 and the agreement was signed in Rennes on 29 January 2010 in the presence of regional president Jean-Yves Le Drian
Jean-Yves Le Drian (; born 30 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in the First Philippe government, governments of Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and ...
and Secretary of State for Sport Rama Yade
Rama Yade (born Mame Ramatoulaye Yade; 13 December 1976) is a Senegalese-born French politician and the author of several books. She served as the French Secretary of Human Rights from 2007 to 2009, and the Secretary of Sports from 2009 to 2010 ...
. The agreement then said that a stadium whose activities would be limited to athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
would be located at Rennes on the Villejean Campus near the Sports Education Building at the University.
Production
Financing was set at €12 million. The project was supported by the Department with €5.5 million, the Region with €3 million, and the State to the tune of €2 million. Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
paid €1.5 million. A draft of the project was presented to sports bodies at the end of June 2011, and the choice of Villejean Campus was confirmed.
An architectural competition was launched in June 2011 by the General Council of Ille-et-Vilaine, and the winning project was presented by the architectural firm Chabanne and Partners on 1 July 2012. Work began in early 2014 with a ceremony of the laying of the first stone on 16 February 2014. It was decided that the stadium would be named after Robert Poirier, the former bronze medalist at the 1966 European Athletics Championships
The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe.
Editions
First held, for men ...
in the 400 meters hurdles
The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...
, and former national technical director of French athletics.
Infrastructure
Location
The stadium is located on the Villejean Campus, northwest of Rennes, in the Villejean-Beauregard area. It is located close to the Villejean-University metro station on the Rennes metro
The Rennes Metro (french: Métro de Rennes) ( br, Metro Roazhon) is a light metro system serving the city of Rennes in Brittany, France. Opened on March 15, 2002, it made Rennes the smallest city to have a metro system from 2002 to 2008.
Curren ...
, and close to the University Hospital of Pontchaillou.
Architecture
The building was designed by the architectural from Chabanne and Partners. It has a surface of 5,830m2. According to the firm, the look of the building evokes the hard work of sports in general. "The taut lines of the building symbolize the muscular effort of the athletes. The painting there is also a nod to the discipline of the athletes. It uses the colors gold, silver and bronze to symbolize the colors of the medals that the athletes compete for. " .
The complex is equipped with a 200m track for running and six 60m sprint lanes. For other athletic disciplines, there are areas for shot-put, for the long jump, and for the triple jump. Areas for the high jump and pole vaulting are planned.
The stadium's capacity is 1,293 places including 793 seated and 500 standing, with the possibility of adding 1,439 more people using mobile bleachers. One of the stands bears the name of John Huitorel, former director of the normal school
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...
at Rennes.[Stéphane Vernay]
« Le futur stade sera le stade Robert-Poirier »
in ''Ouest-France'', 12 February 2014, access-date 17 February 2014
Sources
Notes
References
{{Reflist
Sports venues in Rennes
Athletics (track and field) venues in France
Sports venues completed in 2015