Hellinikon Olympic Arena

Hellinikon Olympic Arena
Hellinikon Indoor Arena
Location	Ellinikon, Athens, Greece
Coordinates	37°53′40″N 23°43′48″E / 37.89444°N 23.73000°E
Capacity	Basketball: 15,000; Handball: 13,500
Surface	Parquet
Construction
Broke ground	2003
Opened	July 30, 2004
Construction cost	€49 million euros (2003)
Tenants
	Panionios Nea Smyrni; (2006-09); Panellinios Athens; (2007-Present); AEK Athens; (2009-Present);

The Helliniko Olympic Indoor Arena is a multi-use sports indoor arena that is located in Ellinikon, Athens, Greece. It is approximately 10 miles from the Athens Olympic Village. It was built on the site of the former Ellinikon International Airport for the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Paralympics.

History

The facility, which was built by Michaniki and EllisDon Construction Corporation was completed on May 31, 2004, and officially opened on July 30, 2004. It was built to be one of the most NBA-like arenas in Europe at the time. It was converted into a basketball arena by converting the old Athens Airport aircraft repair hangar of the Olympic Airways airline that had closed in the year 2001. The metal frame of the arena is the only part of the structure that remains from the original building. This was done to save in costs for both land and construction. The cost of the project was about €49 million euros in 2003 costs.

The arena hosted the Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics preliminary matches and the Handball at the 2004 Summer Olympics finals. During the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games, it was also the venue used for Wheelchair Rugby at the 2004 Summer Paralympics.

The facility seats 15,000 spectators for basketball,^[1] and 13,500 for handball. It has been used as a home arena of the Greek League basketball teams Panionios Nea Smyrni, Panellinios Athens, and AEK Athens. It also currently hosts the finals matches of the Greek Cup. The Greek Basketball Federation currently limits use of the arena capacity. Only the 8,500 lower tier seats are currently allowed to be used. The 6,500 upper tier seats are kept out of use currently for maintenance reasons.

References

^ ^a ^b Worldstadiums.com basketball capacity 15,000.

External links

Helliniko Indoor Arena @ Stadia.gr
Builders' Website @ Ellisdon.com

Interior of the arena during the 2004 Summer Olympics.

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37°53′40″N 23°43′48″E / 37.89444°N 23.73000°E / 37.89444; 23.73000{{#coordinates:}}: cannot have more than one primary tag per page

[Worldstadiums-1] Worldstadiums.com basketball capacity 15,000.

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