Sports for all: € 1,236 million for multisport areas

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Bringing sport to neighborhoods for the benefit of young people who do not have access to it is one of the main missions of the alderman in charge of Sports and Youth, Karim Chaïbaï. It led the City of Charleroi to make a massive investment of 1.236M € in multisport spaces (ESM) and neighborhood infrastructures throughout the municipal territory.

“From the starts, we have included the strengthening of the practice of sport for all as an issue of both the development of youth and emancipation, of strengthening the social bond”, indicates the alderman Karim Chaïbaï. “This is why we have already reinforced all aid for the practice of sport, including sports vouchers with a doubling of the budget this year or the free C card. But we must go further for all young people who, despite these tools, do not necessarily have access to club sport. We have therefore entered in the multi-year investment plan an amount of € 1.236 million for renovations and construction of multisport areas along with the development of small neighborhood infrastructures which will materialize via other markets. This allows for quick installation of basketball backboards, goals, etc.”.

Indeed, having sports grounds accessible free of charge is one of the most important levers to achieve these objectives. “The goal is not only to build infrastructures but also to use them to recreate life and activities in the neighborhoods, to promote intergenerational spaces and to hang up, through physical activity outdoors. We can get there with neighborhood sports”.

Finally, this approach is also part of a play plan in Charleroi coordinated by the Nature in the city department led by the mayor Paul Magnette which aims to create and develop play areas on the territory, places of leisure and intergenerational meetings.

The ESM projects were therefore planned in line with the work carried out on the networking of local nature spaces in the five districts to promote homogeneous territorial coverage. Overall, the idea is to complete living spaces where there are already fitness modules for seniors (and which are generally very busy) or existing or scheduled children’s play areas. The choice of locations also responds to socio-economic criteria, neighborhoods with a high density of public housing being mainly targeted.

The first step consisted of a census of existing MSBs in order to determine those that require renovation, whether heavy or light. Some of them (Gilly, Dampremy or Lodelinsart) have already been renovated during this legislature. The Lodelinsart ESM is an example of a major renovation, the entire structure having been replaced. It is also an example of what the new ESMs will be, studied with the assistance of Charleroi-Bouwmeester, with entirely metal guardrails and in single block. This technique is less vulnerable to vandalism and the passage of time than wooden structures. This also helps to avoid the noise pollution often pointed out during the impact of balloons on wooden walls.

Identify new locations

First of all, during the Estates General, requests from citizens and young people in particular (via the Youth Centers and youth support services in an open environment) were recorded. For each location identified, contacts with young people from the neighborhoods were systematically resumed. The new multisport spaces will be located particularly near public service housing buildings, in areas currently poorly equipped with this type of equipment. The goal is to facilitate access to free sports activities without requiring long trips.

Beyond the practice of sport, the implantation areas are called upon to become places of life where residents of neighborhoods of all ages like to meet. We can thus find in the same place, a multisport area, benches for seniors and a play area for children.

This inventory made it possible to identify the most urgent requests and needs, in collaboration with the Nature Department in the city to ensure territorial consistency across the 5 districts.

A budget included in the multi-year investment plan

A budget of 1.236 million euros has been included in the multi-year investment plan for multisport spaces relating to:

– 3 renovations already carried out (either synthetic coating or walls) for 326,000 euros

– 8 new projects, 3 on existing sites and 5 on new sites for an amount of approximately 910,000 euros.

There will therefore be 15 ESMs available in the districts at the end of the term.

In addition, and in order to allow everyone to practice sport as close as possible to their home, the collaboration with Nature en Ville has made it possible to identify the needs for small sports infrastructures in the neighborhoods. Those which are frequented and in poor condition will be gradually renovated. New installations of this type of equipment are also planned in areas which do yet not have one. All these investments will be made thanks to a public market of sports supplies still in progress and on the basis of a consultation with the inhabitants of the district.