The Italian government is planning to add a retractable floor to the New 7 Wonders of the World, so that the arena’s long-disintegrated floor will be reinstated and usable again. Set to be built by 2023, it is expected to cost 18.5 million euros.
Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism is developing with the Colosseum Archaeological Park this reconstruction to make the surface of the Colosseum arena floor usable again.
“It will be a great technological intervention which will give visitors the chance not only to see the basements but to admire the beauty of the Colosseum from the centre of the arena.” said Dario Franceschini, minister for cultural heritage and activities and tourism in a statement.
The government is looking for a design team to create this retractable floor that will be placed in the centre of the arena: “The goal is to make the surface of the Colosseum arena floor usable again and to identify a compatible and reversible technological solution for covering the underground spaces”.
Set to be built by 2023, the retractable floor will include a series of lifts to connect the underground area with the arena floor and is expected to cost 18.5 million euros. Design teams have until February 1 to submit bids.
