In Bobigny,
At D-500 of the Paralympic Games. We talk about it less than the Paris Olympics and yet they will take place in the capital and throughout Île-de-France between August 28 and September 8, 2024. “It was obvious to us that Seine-Saint-Denis also had to take up the question of Paralympism, ”assures Stéphane Troussel (PS), on the Prisme site in Bobigny this Monday morning.
Alongside the journalists who discover six months after the laying of the first stone in October, the progress of the construction of the Metropolitan Inclusive Sports Reference Center (Prisme), the president of 93 is proud to welcome on his territory, the ” only dedicated Paralympic legacy”. “There was a lack of equipment that would be the flagship of the strategy for accessibility and inclusion in society,” he says. It will be the only one in France and even in Europe, and it will be in Seine-Saint-Denis”.
Modular equipment at the service of all athletes
The Prisme construction site is already teeming with workers this Monday morning, while boots on and helmet on like the others, Stéphane Troussel walks on the foundations of this large-scale equipment. “Our model is in… Phoenix, Arizona. We wanted the best, both in the operation of the equipment, in the spaces that are organized – sports, care and health, research and development, offices, training -, in the choice of materials used which leave an important place to modular equipment, lighting that adapts to the sport practiced but also to the specific handicap of the practitioners, in the quality of the materials, in the aesthetics and the architecture of the building”.
For a starting budget estimated at 55.5 million euros, the department of Seine-Saint-Denis is investing “more than 30 million euros”, the Métropole du Grand Paris, 13 million euros, Solideo ( Olympic Works Delivery Company) and the Île-de-France region, 4 million euros each, the Interdepartmental Solidarity and Investment Fund, 2.3 million euros and the City of Bobigny, 500,000 euros. In this envelope in particular: the preservation of the Roman road, which has given rise to archaeological excavations and which will constitute the forecourt of the building, the mushroom posts, these rather special posts with their flared shape, supporting structures for the sports halls, which are being finalized, or the stylized panels, symbols of parasport, affixed to the facade on a 20 cm layer of insulation.
Le Prisme, 13,100 m² including 8,200 m² of floor space on three levels and with a capacity to accommodate 2,000 people simultaneously, which should be delivered in the spring of 2024, will be one of the training sites for the Paris 2024 Games. In the long term, it should make it possible to strengthen the presence of parasport and to develop parasport practices in Seine-Saint-Denis. The department will also be honored for the Paralympic Games since it will have the opportunity to host four events: para-athletics in Saint-Denis, the paramarathon, which will start in La Courneuve, sitting volleyball in Villepinte as well as para-cycling on the road which will leave from Clichy-sous-Bois.
The accessibility of the center in question
Everything is well thought out on the Prisme site for accessibility to all the equipment, including an arms room, a dojo, a collective sports hall, a huge multisports hall with a grandstand and a climbing hall which goes up to 18 90 meters, all connected by an access ramp over the entire height of the building, which wraps around the hall and the patio and will serve the different spaces, from the car park to the 2nd floor. But how to get to the Prisme site, located in Bobigny, on the La Motte stadium? “We expect a lot from the transport plan currently discussed and drawn up by Île-de-France Mobilités and the Cojop (Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games)”, proclaims Stéphane Troussel.
If the Prism is located near the Avicenne hospital, not far from the university premises and with several sports fields in the vicinity, the question of public transport arises. The future line 15 of the Grand Paris Express metro must connect this unique facility to the rest of the transport network, with the construction of the Drancy-Bobigny station but… by 2030. For the time being, line 5 is at 35 minutes on foot, only the T1 and the 234 bus allow you to reach the terminus of this line a little faster. “The transport plan, which must be announced in a few weeks, is preponderant, adds the president of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis. It must offer solutions, either shuttles or adapted transport, to reach the Prism. Because if the equipment offered is accessible to all, it is still necessary that both athletes and spectators can access it”.