Deodoro Park Re-opening Looms

(ATR) Rio de Janeiro City Hall tells Around the Rings it expects to have an operator for the Deodoro Olympic Park in June.

The Deodoro Park has been closed since last December, after the company in charge did not renew its lease on the complex. Earlier this month City Hall told ATR it had "no news" on the bidding process for the complex.

Now, that appears to have changed.

"A bid to hire a company to manage the site is underway and there is a prospect of re-opening the park to the public at the end of June," a municipal spokesperson told ATR.

Deodoro is just one of a few venues from the Rio 2016 Games that remain under the purview of City Hall. The others include Carioca Arena 3 and the main walkway in the Olympic Park, known as "the Olympic Way." Both areas are only open to the public for limited hours on the weekends and holidays.

The Deodoro Park is located in Rio de Janeiro’s northern zone. It is one of the most densely populated, poorest areas of the city and lacks green space. After the Games, the park was supposed to give access to leisure activities for the citizens in the form of green space, bike paths, a skate park, picnic areas, a museum dedicated to environmental legacy, and a public swimming pool.

The pool was opened in December 2015, before the Olympic Games, in a ceremony originally set to feature then-President Dilma Rousseff.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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