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The Government of Zaragoza has given this morning “a strong boost in its commitment to young people, grassroots sports, and the established neighborhoods of the city” after approving, for an amount of 1.6 million euros, the construction projects for two artificial grass 11-a-side football fields in the municipal facilities of Torre Ramona and El Rabal. This was explained by the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, who visited one of the two facilities, specifically the one located in Las Fuentes.
“It will mean a substantial improvement for a total of 59 sports teams and a total of 1,008 male and female players,” Natalia Chueca summarized, given that 27 teams and 470 young people from the Santo Domingo Juventud Sports Club play at the CMF Torre Ramona, and at the CMF El Rabal there are 32 teams and 538 players from the Unión Deportivo La Jota Vadorrey Sports Club.
“This municipal government manages and resolves, thus fleeing from perpetual promises that were never fulfilled,” the mayor highlighted. “The residents and families of Las Fuentes and El Rabal deserve top quality facilities, comparable to those of any other area of the city,” reaffirmed Natalia Chueca, who recalled that Zaragoza will be the European Capital of Sports in 2027 and “that commitment begins with the reinforcement of our facilities in the neighborhoods and in grassroots sport, because it is the best tool for social cohesion that we have.” “A renovated football field is not just a place to play. It is a space where values are promoted, team building and a healthy leisure alternative is offered to our young people,” summarized the mayor of Zaragoza, who has emphasized the objective of “building a more lively, sporty and, above all, fairer city with all its districts.”
TORRE RAMONA MUNICIPAL FOOTBALL FIELD
On the one hand, the Zaragoza City Council has given the green light to the project to construct a new artificial grass 11-a-side soccer field at the Torre Ramona Municipal Soccer Field, whose budget amounts to 801,839.01 euros.
The Torre Ramona Municipal Football Club, located at 81 Fray Luis Urbano Street, in the Las Fuentes District, was designed in 1999 and its facilities are made up of three football fields arranged in parallel with changing rooms. The fields started out as dirt, but a few years later field number 1 was made of artificial grass, and in 2009 field number 2 also became artificial grass. With the growth of the Santo Domingo Juventud Sports Club that plays in this municipal center, the adaptation of Field Number 3 (currently dirt) is now required to convert it into an artificial grass field.
The CMF Torre Ramona is located in the border area between the Las Fuentes neighborhood and the Ronda de la Hispanidad. To the north there are residential buildings and the Torre Ramona Park, to the west there are residential buildings and to the south and east, land yet to be developed. The Municipal Club is located at a very lower level from Fray Luis Urbano Street and Ronda de Hispanidad.
The project consists of the substantial improvement of the municipal facilities of the sports complex and seeks to condition the existing infrastructure to offer a better service to users. The proposed intervention consists of the construction of an artificial grass field, which will not only improve the quality of the playing field, but will also allow for more intensive and prolonged use of the field, since artificial grass requires less maintenance and is more resistant to inclement weather. The renovation of the surrounding areas is also contemplated, including the improvement of accesses and other ancillary facilities.
To do this, it is intended to install artificial grass, create a new irrigation and drainage system for the field, do the perimeter civil work on the playing field consistent with a sidewalk using a reinforced concrete slab, dismantle and replace the field’s own equipment (goals, benches, railings…), demolish and replace a new perimeter mesh to stop the balls, install a new field lighting system taking advantage of the existing staffs and install new 8 meter high posts to stop balls, with their corresponding foundation and new nets.
EL RABAL MUNICIPAL FOOTBALL FIELD
On the other hand, the municipal government has also approved the creation of a new playing field at the El Rabal Municipal Soccer Field, which will close, two decades later, a project that was left half done. It was 2005 when it was proposed to develop two 11-a-side football fields with stands for a capacity of 200/250 people and the necessary buildings for the operation of two football clubs, on a plot of land in Vadorrey, next to Ronda Hispanidad, which is located to the east of this neighborhood, closing the outer limit of the city.
Finally, in 2009, only one of the two 11-a-side football fields was built, which is currently made of artificial grass. The rest of the plot (the one that corresponds to the expansion) was private property and has required expropriation. Now it is free and unpaved, with a lot of concrete slab that will have to be demolished, as will an existing warehouse.
This will settle a debt with this sports facility and with the residents of the district through an estimated investment of 814,380.12 euros. The objective is to generate a unitary complex for which the intermediate enclosures are eliminated while maintaining and completing the perimeter ones.
As for the new 11-a-side soccer field, it will be created on the unbuilt plot space. The field will be made of artificial grass with technical irrigation facilities, the necessary complementary works and complete sports equipment. It will also be provided with lighting through spotlights installed in 4 staffs.
The enclosure of the plot in this part will be carried out with Hercules-type modular fencing on a reinforced concrete wall, in continuity with that executed in 2009. Special care has been taken in the choice of the latest generation artificial grass pavement and top-level sports equipment, in addition to the corresponding irrigation installation. The choice of artificial grass will allow it to withstand the intensive use of training and competitions that are intended to be carried out, without suffering rapid deterioration.
Furthermore, the organization of the complex is proposed as it was planned in its day, with criteria of clarity, order and rationality, so that the accesses, routes and operation of the premises are perceived in a clear and intuitive way. The application of current sports regulations and other sustainability, energy efficiency and water saving criteria have been taken into account.
The field will be 100 meters long with 2.5 meter depths and 60 meters wide with 1.5 meter sidelines. The total dimensions of the field will be 105×63 m and the total surface area of the artificial grass is 6,615 m2. Its equipment will include a set of fixed goals for 11-a-side football, two sets of folding goals for 7-a-side football, the flags, substitute benches, posts and goal protection net, an electronic scoreboard, the field closure railing, as well as the staffs and spotlights for lighting.
This municipal sports facility is the home and headquarters of the Unión Deportivo La Jota Vadorrey Sports Club, which emerged from the merger of two historic Aragonese grassroots football clubs: La Unión Deportiva La Jota, founded in 1970, and the Asociación Deportiva Vadorrey, founded in 1986.
