Azerbaijani First Lady visits Olympic Village
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijan's First Lady, Chairperson of the first European Olympic Games' Organizing Committee, Mehriban Aliyeva, familiarized herself with preparation works at the "Olympic Village" on Friday.
Located in Baku's Nizami district, the Olympic Village, which will be used while holding the first European Games, covers an area of 382,397 square meters.
The inaugural European Olympic Games will be held in Baku June 12-28, 2015.
The Olympic Village is located in an area with easy access from all around the city, moreover, it is close to the main facilities intended for holding the European Games - the Olympic Stadium, Water Sport Types Center, Gymnastics Complex and the Airport.
Comprised of thirteen residential buildings and subsidiary buildings, the complex has 1,161 two, three and four-room apartments. There are also power substations, boiler rooms, underground water basins, a pumping house and car parking for each building there. In addition to 3,520 rooms in the complex, preparations have been carried out for duplex houses covering an area of 42,000 square meters.
A new school building designed for 1,100 students in the area was allocated for the Baku European Games Coordination Committee.
The First Lady was informed that all necessary conditions were created for the Coordination Committee and local and foreign experts who are expected to work in the Village. There are large and small halls and offices at the building, which will host various assemblies. Volleyball and basketball pitches and a covered swimming pool are being built at the complex. The work of mass media representatives was also taken into account.
The preparatory work at the complex will be completed by the end of 2014.
Aliyeva was acquainted with the conditions provided in the apartments intended for sportsmen and delegations coming to Azerbaijan during competitions.
In April, Baku hosted the first meeting of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) Coordination Commission for the European Games Baku 2015. At the meeting, foreign experts made presentations on the holding of the Games. The sides exchanged views on the opening and closing ceremonies, cultural events, media strategy and relations.
The members of the EOC Coordination Commission assured that they would do their best for a high-level organization of the Games.
According to Azerbaijani Youth and Sports Minister Azad Rahimov, the competition will take place on 19 kinds of sports and some 6,351 athletes will take part in it.