Rugby, football or wheelchair basketball, ping pong, archery, climbing, fencing, dance but also a medical and research centre. Six months after the laying of the first stone, the Metropolitan Sports Inclusive Reference Center (Prisme) includes equipment for the able-bodied and people with disabilities in the same place. A unique site in Europe of more than 13,000 square meters located in the northern suburbs of Paris.
Once the safety instructions have been given, the visit can start with a helmet firmly screwed on the head.. With caution and staying together, because the site is in full swing. Six months later, it is still difficult to project oneself because scaffolding, walls and concrete stairs take up all the space.
The Prism built at the Stade de la Motte in Bobigny in Seine-Saint-Denis raised an ancient Roman road out of the ground, identified following archaeological excavations. The architects have adapted this gigantic site to this unexpected discovery.
The Roman remains
To manage their vast empire, the Romans had thus created an ultra-efficient road system which crisscrossed the territory, linking the ports, the large urban centers and the small agglomerations like Bobigny.
The town of Bobigny is located in a particularly poor department which accumulates many difficulties: between lack of infrastructure and problems of accessibility, athletes with disabilities were not the priority.
“When you enter the big practice room, it’s magic, underlines Fabien Paillard, president of adapted sport in Seine-Saint-Denis, elected to the pole inclusion and education through sport at the Olympic Committee of Seine-Saint-Denis. It’s taking shape he says with a broad smile. These infrastructures, our athletes have been waiting for them for a long time. In Seine-Saint-Denis we have a lot of young people who need these places to train, which are called motor skills rooms. »
An innovative project
The particularity of the Prisme is to welcome all audiences, whether able-bodied or disabled. In terms of infrastructure and equipment, everything has been studied. Balneotherapy will thus rub shoulders with medical spaces that will make it possible to develop bridges between sport and health, with physiotherapy or rehabilitation.
A section dedicated to research and development is also proposed to study Paralympic sport. But for now, it’s the boots in the water that the visit continues. Here everything has been thought out: lights, specific signage in Braille in particular which will make it possible to accommodate athletes with disabilities.
The Prism is one of the legacies of the Paris Games
“A real gem »reacts with enthusiasm the president of the department Stéphane Troussel who speaks of a flagship, armed arm of all the Paralympic strategy during and after the games.
The cost of the works is more than 55 million euros. The Prism will serve as a training site. However, there will be no event during the 2024 Paralympic Games.
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