This expansion was for a long time – a very long time – all about wishful thinking, expressed season after season by Basket Landes. A sea serpent that has become even bigger this year, while the club reaches the European summits by hard-won obtaining its ticket to participate in the most beautiful of continental competitions: the Euroleague Final Six. The epilogue of Dantesque matches played behind closed doors. Like any Landaise Women’s League match, reigning French champions, in a François-Mitterrand space that is definitely too small to accommodate everyone who would like to come and watch a match.
Extended occupancy
“We know that we generate frustration,” Marie-Laure Lafargue then Audrey Lacroix, the successive presidents of the Landes club, could only repeat invariably. So, for the last one, it is a real relief to see the project – which the club has been working on for months – taking shape, following an agreement obtained from the town hall to launch the order form, then begin the work.
They will be the responsibility of Basket Landes. Estimated cost: 576,000 euros excluding tax. The club, which operated on a precarious occupation agreement renewed season after season, on the other hand obtained the assurance of occupying the room for twelve years, i.e. until 2037. “We thank the town hall for allowing us to plan and see our project through to the end,” appreciates Audrey Lacroix.
Concretely, the Chalosse stand, located behind the players’ benches, will be split in two. Between the two parts, two new blocks of stands will be integrated, which will be raised by two additional rows. Furthermore, behind the benches, the free space up to the first row will be exploited: 106 VIP seats will be positioned in an elevated position. That is 1,386 places instead of the current approximately 800. In order to support the structure, metal planks will be installed under the wheels which allow the stand to move. All the work will be carried out by the French company which built the stand.
Delivery: September 2026
Calendar-wise, everything has not yet been launched: at the end of March, an inspection by the firefighters must take place in order to ensure safety conditions to receive this surplus of spectators. Their green light will automatically trigger the purchase order to manufacture the different elements. The work itself should begin in June, when the sports seasons have ended, for delivery hoped for September 4, 2026. There will remain a final stage before its official commissioning with an inspection by the municipal safety commission.
