Discovering the Bosco dello Sport, Venezia’s new home

A stadium “like few others in Italy today”. The first to be built from scratch in the new millennium: the last one had been the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, back in 1995. More than three decades later, by 2028, it will be the turn of the Bosco dello Sport. The future home of Venezia, situated within a 116-hectare green space on the mainland of the lagoon, which will also include a basketball arena and an expanse of trees currently being planted. “It will be a driving force for the local area, both socio-economically and in sporting terms,” emphasises the local council. “We’re talking about a fully-fledged, all-round multi-purpose facility, open 365 days a year.” And that’s not all: the new stadium is being built as part of a public-private partnership that is truly unprecedented in these parts and on this scale: around 100 million euros have been allocated by the City Council, with almost as much coming from the orange-and-green club.

The current state of play, as seen during a site visit on Thursday. The reinforced concrete load-bearing structure is already clearly defined: it hints at the undulating shapes of the stands, creating an intimate and well-proportioned space where visibility will be excellent. Work is currently underway on installing the external metal cladding, which gives shape and character to the entire complex. This will be followed by the installation of the main roof structure, together with the final structural steelwork. Work will then move on to the interiors. According to the contractor, by the end of 2026, 45 per cent of the works will have been completed. The facility is scheduled for handover in December 2027, following 26 months of construction. The aim is to hold the grand opening in the following calendar year – certainly in time for the 2027/28 football season. However, Venezia’s management are confident they will be able to inaugurate the Bosco dello Sport a few months earlier, in the spring, whilst the league season is still underway. In short: the countdown has begun.

It will be an aesthetic, functional and geographical revolution for Venetian football. The old, romantic Penzo stadium will be retired after more than a century of distinguished service. No more Serie A football surrounded by water, in the heart of the lagoon, but this is the price to pay to propel Venezia into the modern age once and for all. The current stadium has a capacity of 12,000. Its successor at the Bosco dello Sport will have a capacity of 18,500, of which nearly 2,000 will be allocated to the hospitality area – four times the current size. It is a significant leap in scale, but not out of proportion: the club and industry insiders specifically wanted it this way. Even if this means – according to UEFA parameters – having to forgo the possibility of hosting major continental events, such as the European Football Championships. “The aim that guided our decisions was to optimise the stadium’s capacity and day-to-day use, avoiding the ‘cathedral in the desert’ effect,” explains Silvia Prandelli, senior principal at Populous, the international architecture and design firm in charge of the project. Its portfolio also includes the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the redevelopment of the Sinigaglia Stadium in Como. “Venice is set to become a model of excellence for Italian sports infrastructure. A project like this has been long overdue.”

Compared to the Penzo, which can only be reached on foot or by vaporetto, the Bosco dello Sport is strongly focused on accessibility: it is a stone’s throw from a motorway junction, near Marco Polo Airport, and will be linked to an extensive cycle and pedestrian network, pending the far more important rail link, the construction of which, however, will take at least a few more years. There are also plans for 2,800 parking spaces. And of course, in the name of convenience, get ready to say goodbye to those long pre-match walks. For Venezia fans, making their way through the historic centre to the Penzo stadium, from bacaro to bacaro, from cicchetto to cicchetto, has always been a ritual as cherished as the 90 minutes of play. So for the new stadium, they’ll have to come up with a new one. Some elements will remain: the orange-black-and-green club is in fact working on a plan to involve the business owners along the traditional route at the new site as well, complete with kiosks and the relocation of signage, whilst covering part of the logistical costs. As for the rest, the big gamble is that the sense of wonder will outweigh the nostalgia. Staying in Serie A would help.