New project for Russian International Olympic University
Russian International Olympic University (RMOU), positioned as a centre that will train highly qualified management professionals for sport and the sports industry, was founded on the day the Olympic Games opened in Beijing. In the presence of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, heads of the International Olympic Committee, the Sochi-2015 Organising Committee and the Russian Olympic Committee signed a memorandum of understanding. Following the memorandum, on March 31, 2010, the three parties concluded a cooperation agreement. On June 7, 2010, in Sochi, the foundation stone was laid for the RMOU at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge.
The first stage of construction – on the university’s academic facilities – is scheduled for completion by the end of 2012, but the RMOU is planning to start work on orders placed by the Sochi-2014 committee as early as this year.
The RMOU complex is being developed in the city centre, near the coast. The university will become a new cultural centre with a congress hall seating 1,000 people, and an Olympic e-library, unmatched in Russia. Media screens mounted on its façade will broadcast sports and other events for local residents and tourists.
At the design stage, the original plans were altered to preserve green spaces and reduce development density and area. Also, under the new project, the territory will be provided with more sophisticated protective structures, more parking places, with the upper embankment left intact, providing direct access from the Alexander lighthouse to the Festivalny concert hall.
Elements retained from the original design:
- the entire territory will be developed and open to visitors;
- two- and four-storey buildings will be constructed along the embankment for shops, cafes and restaurants;
- a grand staircase leading down to the sea will link the conference centre with the embankment;
- three water treatment facilities will be constructed to deal with runoff and prevent untreated waste water getting into the sea;
- the Olympic construction programme will entail the reconstruction of municipal faecal reservoirs servicing the area from Zhemchuzhina to Sea Port to prevent a systems failure and waste being discharged into the sea;
- the new project should receive assistance at all levels to ensure that the deadline is kept.
