Maracana Stadium to get US$300-m facelift

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) -- Rio's legendary Maracana Stadium is to get a US$300-million facelift for the 2014 World Cup, the city's Secretary of Sports and Tourism confirmed yesterday.

"The start of renovation work at the stadium is planned for March 2010 but it will only close completely in September," Marcia Lins Lins told a press conference.

The end of work on the stadium, the largest in the world when it was inaugurated in 1950 for the World Cup, is planned for December 2012.

The Maracana is classified as a historic monument so the facade will be maintained, but a roof will be added to the five-storey oval stadium.

The stadium's capacity will however drop to 83,000 from its current 88,000.

"Before, stadiums were practically just large pitches but today they are multi-disciplined arenas," said Lins.

She added that the project also included the regeneration of the entire northern area of the city.

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