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 The building
The building was designed in a circular plan with a diameter of 115 metres. The structure is of reinforced concrete and a metallic roof made up of trihinged arches with a span of 73.70 metres. A team of 350 workers was involved on a daily basis, 2,100 cubic metres of wood was needed for concrete moulds, 3,200 metric tons of cement, 9,000 cubic metres of gravel, 5,000 cubic metres of river sand, 10,000 cubic metres of concrete, 850 metric tons of iron, 90 kilometres of cable and 900,000 work days were needed. The initial time of one year for the work to be carried out was extended to sixteen months. This delay was caused by the discovery, during the initial phase of soil movement, of walls that had formed the basement of the old Bullring, which were more than one and a half metres thick in silex stone fabric with lime mortar. The final cost of the construction was 56 million pesetas.
The original seating capacity, which was variable, ranged from ten thousand to sixteen thousand spectators, according to the activity. The minimum capacity for the cycling trials was 10.609, with 8.860 seated. For basketball, handball, volleyball or hockey there was a capacity of 13.705, with 9.953 seated, and the maximum capacity of 16,137 was for boxing and wrestling, with 12.385 seated.
At the beginning of 1969 the new venues for basketball, cycling, hockey and athletics were inaugurated after work that had lasted three months.
In April of 1985, the Palacio de Deportes was transferred to the Community of Madrid (Madrid Regional Government) who undertook a refurbishment at a cost of more than 500 million pesetas. The roofs, floors, sports floorings and seating were renewed as well as the sound system in addition to an improvement in the building acoustics. Finally, the Press Room, gymnasiums, dressing rooms, storerooms and infirmary were also refurbished.
On 28 June, 2001, the Palacio de Deportes was practically destroyed by fire.
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HISTORY OF THE PALACIO DE DEPORTES
