“Who are the strongest? Obviously, it’s the Greens! “. Don’t expect the bosses of Stade Brestois to sing at the top of their lungs the Saint-Etienne anthem of 1976. A short week after the metropolitan council of December 10, 2024, marked by the stirring intervention of the ecologist Glenn Dissaux, Denis and Gérard Le Saint dismiss the elected EELV in his goals, not convinced of the general interest of the project supported by the community.
“Our common interest”
While Glenn Dissaux
Julien Carmona, president of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, alongside Denis and Gérard Le Saint, managers of Stade Brestois 29 and co-sponsors of the new stadium project at Froutven. (Photo Le Télégramme/Rémy Quéméner)
“Even if the financial balances have evolved recently, it is false to say that the share of private money is decreasing in the financing of Arkéa Park. On the contrary, thanks to the mobilization of the partners of Stade Brestois 29, private investment in the company’s capital has even increased by €2.50 million”, the co-presidents support in a long press release recalling that Arkéa Park “is a project financed mainly by private money, with participation from public authorities (Brittany region, Finistère department, Brest metropolis, etc.)”.
“Even if the financial balances have evolved recently, it is false to say that the share of private money is decreasing in the financing of Arkéa Park”
A scenario, continue the two brothers, where it is appropriate to reiterate that “public participation is much less important” than what it would have been in the case of a renovation of the Stade Francis-Le Blé. The estimate for the renovation is “€60 million, paid in full by Brest taxpayers”. A new stadium would cost half as much public money…
No “personal enrichment”
Glen Dissaux, president of the environmental group at the City of Brest and Brest Métropole. (Photo Le Télégramme/Jean-Luc Padellec)
“We, project leaders, will not be owners of Arkéa Park” insist Denis and Gérard Le Saint. “The land will remain the property of Brest Métropole and the construction will be transferred to it at the end of the construction lease. We, the project leaders, will not be the exclusive operators of the enclosure either. 100% of operators will be private entrepreneurs and we will favor local companies. Finally, we, project leaders, will not benefit from operating revenues. 100% of these revenues – notably from rents – will be collected by Stade Brestois 29, to consolidate and perpetuate the economic model of the club, one of the smallest budgets in Ligue 1, weakened by the drop in TV rights. As for the results of the project company, they will be primarily mobilized to repay the bank loan of €39 million.”
“1,000 jobs will be mobilized for construction; 1,000 people will be employed on match days (compared to 700 at Le-Blé); between 300 and 400 jobs will be created for the operation”
300 to 400 jobs created
Recalling that they are solely driven by “the love of our territory” and “the desire to make this club grow”, the co-presidents believe that this future stadium will be a structuring facility, like Océanopolis or the Capucins. Hence the “participation of public authorities. It’s true, it will not be a stadium in the city center: but it will be a stadium in the heart of the metropolis (…) A stadium which will help to revitalize a strategic area, creating activities and jobs for the benefit of all the metropolis. 1,000 jobs will be mobilized for construction; 1,000 people will be employed on match days (compared to 700 at Le-Blé); between 300 and 400 jobs will be created for the operation.”
Defender of an inclusive stadium, which “will host an Adapted Sport multi-sport club”, the Le Saint brothers remind us that “the magic of the European epic” must not make us forget “that we remain a small one among the big ones. The current situation, which has lasted for almost fifteen years, consisting of Stade Brestois 29 requesting exemptions to play in a stadium which does not meet professional football standards, is no longer sustainable. Its development and sustainability are not assured if we do not provide the club with a stadium that matches its ambitions, the stadium that our territory deserves! »
* Tuesday December 10, 2024, the elected officials of Brest Métropole declared by a majority the new stadium project to be of general interest, during the vote, the environmentalists voted against and the PC elected officials abstained.
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