Critics have argued it would further damage the area on the fringes of the leafy Bois de Boulogne on the western outskirts of Paris, reports GamesBids.com
The dome, which would have a capacity of 14,000 to 15,000, would be the venue for judo and badminton if Paris hosts the 2012 Games.
Baudillon said: “The infrastructure was planned before Paris decided to bid for the Games as part of the development of the Roland Garros stadum”.
He dismissed any comparison to the controversial project for the West Side Stadium, the centrepiece of New York’s 2012 bid. “It’s totally different because our bid does not depend on this project. We don’t need the dome to bid for the Games.”
The project, which includes covering a stretch of motorway to link the new area with the existing one, will cost an estimated 350 million euros and will be partly financed by the French Tennis Federation.
Paris 2012 said its plans would turn the potential Olympic tennis complex, along with other existing venues such as Stade de France Paris 2012 that are also earmarked for an upgrade, into “modernized models of environmental sustainability”.
It added that its “green-stadium” operation would see Paris 2012 working with the owners and operators of all existing sites “to achieve energy and water savings, reduced waste production and limit the use of polluting chemicals”.
