Roland Garros set for $500m revamp

The Australian Open, with three rain protected stadiums, claims to be the most progressive of the four Grand Slams -the first retractable roof having been set up as long as 25 years ago at the Rod Laver Arena.
Wimbledon broke away from its hard-nosed tradition to build a roof over its Centre Court in 2009. At the US Open, work is already in progress to have the Arthur Ashe Stadium 'covered', and the roof will be ready for operation by the 2016 edition.The French Open will be the last, but not the least, to move with changing times and embrace the inevitable.
Plans to revamp Roland Garros -which include expanding the area of the tennis complex significantly, building a new stadium court replacing the existing Court 1 and redesigning the Philippe Chatrier centre court with a retractable roof -have been in place since 2010.
Objections from neighbourhood residents, leading to court cases, delayed the project. But as French tennis federation (FFT) general director Gilbert Ysern told TOI during the ongoing French Open in Paris, that work should finally begin in three months' time.
"We expect to get the building permits by the end of this month, and work will start in September," informed Ysern, who is also the tournament director.
The $500,000 million project will be undertaken in stages, with work on the main court, including the roof, being last on the agenda. "We expect the 2019 French Open to be played at the redesigned Philippe Chatrier court with all the new facilities in place," said Ysern.