"We are facing a very important legislative period in terms of the renovation of sports facilities. This project will be one of the most significant, as it has long been requested by Cieza's youth football clubs. The clubs' support is overwhelming." With these words, Councilor for Sports, Carlos Semitiel, expressed his gratitude this Wednesday for the willingness shown by both the Cieza Sports Club and the clubs that make up the local football community in the comprehensive renovation project of the La Arboleja Sports Complex. With an initial investment of €400,000, the first phase of work will begin next July at the municipal stadium and will include the installation of state-of-the-art artificial turf on the pitch, the construction of new stands, and the improvement of the changing room tunnel, which will provide the local clubs with a new space, thus providing them with more time for training and competitions.
"The budget for the entire renovation is valued at 1.2 million euros. We have already secured funding thanks to the efforts of the governing team and, in particular, the mayor of Cieza, so we will be able to execute the first phase," explained Semitiel, who emphasized that these improvements are "very beneficial" for all clubs. "Without a doubt, they will bring many benefits in terms of maximizing field occupancy. With natural grass, training could only be carried out twice a week, but with its replacement, 32 hours of use will be available weekly, which will facilitate all grassroots training sessions. This is in addition to the financial savings that the replacement of this facility will entail, savings that the council can allocate to improving other facilities and increasing subsidies for local sports clubs."
In this regard, Mayor Pascual Lucas acknowledged that "this is an effort by the Cieza City Council to remodel the entire sports facilities we are undertaking. This investment is in addition to the remodeling and creation of other sports facilities that we will soon have up and running. All of this is to meet the high demand for sports in our municipality. And in that sense, a contract will soon be issued for the construction of a new pavilion at the José Marín school and new sports facilities at the Pedro Rodríguez school, which will be open to all athletes in Cieza."
"It's about," the councilor noted, "meeting the needs of athletes and users of these facilities. Specifically, at this La Arboleja Sports Complex, it was very necessary to be able to work there, because it had been practically untouched for many years, and it had to be adapted to the new demands. Therefore, the project aims to optimize this football facility to the maximum." Similarly, Lucas announced the start of improvement works on the Juan Manuel Molina athletics track. In his words, "this sports facility has been in need of a major renovation for years, and a budget of €800,000 has been allocated for this purpose."
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