Final sprint to the first sport theme park
Open Camp Barcelona
Quietly and without cranes and scaffolding, the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium is undergoing a major transformation within. As of June 16 will be the main stage of Open Camp, the first theme park of sport in the world, to be installed in the Olympic Ring of Montjuïc and fill with life a space far longer reach tourists, but do not have much what to do.
From a set of experiences, visitors will feel Messi, Gasol or Bolt for one minute. There will be 26 different to practice sports. “Do not come to sweat, most of the attractions will be possible to enjoy with tie” makes clear the ideologue of Open Camp, Paco Medina, which uses the concept Sportainment. That is, the combination of sport and entertainment. It sounds simple, but no one has implemented something anywhere. He has spent five years gestating project that now sees the light.
The site chosen is an attraction by itself. Barcelona has the well-preserved Olympic ring, something that does not happen in many other cities that have hosted Olympic Games. Project leaders have traveled around the world visiting scenarios before deciding on the Catalan capital and have found totally abandoned places. In Montjuïc, despite good condition, occupancy rates are minimal. For this year, the Olympic Stadium is on schedule three dates: Coldplay two concerts in May and a show car monster jam on June 4. The latter case involves a total transformation of the track because it is filled with sand to make a circuit, which do not like Paco Medina because “unnecessarily wearing installation with a use that has nothing to do with what was thought.”
Open Camp defends the original conception of space and it invests 10 million euros in the first 18 months. Much of the work is focusing on washing the face to the facility opened 26 years ago. Stadium internally with public address systems, cabling and new technologies lacking in time be renewed. And it will more attractive: there will be screens everywhere. Besides adaptation work, and is carrying out the installation of some attractions. One of the most spectacular is Open 360, a system used in the training of some professional soccer teams like Benfica and will be the first time made available to the general public. The machine loose balls and the player must shoot at the goal posts and points that appear virtually around. The equipment has cost a million and a half euros.
But although the attractions tend to be remembered as theme parks, from the impeller private group project affecting put the focus on the overall experience over the Dragon Khan shift. Paco Medina points as an example to Futuroscope instead of Port Aventura. “The important thing is the story, not the attractions,” he insists. All the sports activities occupy about 20% of the space, the same percentage that will have experiences such as medical professionals by High Performance Centre (CAR) of Sant Cugat or a sports massage checkup. Another important part will occupy the shows, the most prominent of them at closing time, when it will be held every day a closing ceremony with all the classic elements of these acts. All this is completed by two basic aspects which will provide a significant amount of revenue the park: on the one hand, restaurants; on the other, shops sports brands, technological accessories and the possibility of renting favorite team’s equipment visitor to exit on the photos totally into the role of their idols.
The theme park will run like clockwork: a moment of glory and one minute replacement. So it will be in all the attractions. And you will not know some? “You can repeat as many times as you want,” says the CEO, Paco Medina. In addition, the tails of the theme parks to enjoy the attractions in Open Camp will be more bearable because they form part of the appeal itself. While the shift is expected, it will act as the bystander witnessing the competition and encourages athletes, with the difference that a few minutes later, he will star. With tie or the shirt of Messi, which take all Olympians for a day it will be a digital wristband that allows access to different experiences and record the results in a mobile application. The images will be displayed on the screen of the stadium, “the experience will be completely individualized, which does not happen in any other theme park,” notes Medina. One of the strengths of the project is that it is addressed to a universal audience, such as sports.
In addition to the Olympic Stadium, there will be activities in the hockey rink, baseball field and Calatrava Tower. Meanwhile, the Olympic Museum will be renewed. Inside there will be another of the most striking attractions: a clue fully interactive basketball. The company will pay 30 million euros for the rent for a period of five years of the facility, deficit so far for the council. Instead, they left out of the first stage of the Palau Sant Jordi and pools and facilities of the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia (INEFC). In the future, they hope to incorporate.
The movement from one place to another enclosure will be totally free. No closed perimeter, and public spaces remain so. “Moreover, we are going to clean up and open up previously inaccessible places,” argues Paco Medina. Open Camp will be open 230 days a year. Monday through Sunday during the summer months, to attract tourists, and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the rest of the year, when more local public expects. The ticket price is 28 euros. There will be discounts for families and may be reduced in some cases to 18 euros. The goal is to reach 1.4 million visitors in its first year. Although initially most are expected to be around Barcelona, born with international vocation and continuity. “Open Camp is not an ephemeral world, it will generate a permanent economic impact on the city,” concluded Medina. In the theme park will work 280 people.
Courtesy Car Service Barcelona
EXECUTIVE CHAUFFEUR BARCELONA 