Tbilisi Sports Palace rehabilitation to repair infrastructure, create recreational space, better access to subway - Mayor

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze on Wednesday announced a rehabilitation of the historical Sports Palace venue in the Georgian capital would begin “in the nearest future” and involve major repairs to its infrastructure, establishment of recreational space around the location and opening of better access to nearby subway.

Highlighting the building’s current “unsatisfactory condition”, the Mayor underscored its historical significance as a “key venue” for sporting, cultural, and social events over the decades.

Tbilisi Sports Palace has been the most important object for our city for decades, serving as a key venue for sporting, cultural, and social events [...] The condition of the Palace is currently unsatisfactory due to numerous issues and deficiencies. As a result, it requires significant renovation and rehabilitation”, he said.

Kaladze explained the Palace was a municipal enterprise, with management rights owned by the Logic Group company since 2007, adding the terms of the contract “no longer align with modern standards”.

I would like to thank the company for their cooperation as we worked together on this matter. We have agreed that the Palace requires rehabilitation, and the necessary work will begin very soon”, he said.

The planned renovations will address updates to the floor covering, seating, walls, circulation spaces, dressing rooms, and VIP entrance areas.

Considering the Palace is a historical building, we will strive to preserve historical materials to the greatest extent, particularly the natural stone cladding. It will be outfitted with essential equipment and systems to serve its multipurpose role, including lighting, sound, video, screens, staging, flooring, queue management, broadcasting, partitions, special effects, and various other types of systems and equipment”, Kaladze said.

The Mayor also outlined plans to create a recreational space for the community, upgrade access to the subway, add open padel courts and an enhanced parking zone, accompanied by a revised transport plan to accommodate local residents and visitors.

The current situation around the Palace is absolutely unacceptable. It is a challenging situation, and we need to implement updates promptly. We will create a unique recreational area near the Palace, which will include improvements to the subway stairs and surrounding spaces”, Kaladze said.

The Mayor said the completed renovations would allow the facility to host a variety of sports, cultural, and social events, making it a multifunctional space, adding the project would “breathe a new life” into the venue.