From railway station to sports venue
The 1992 Olympic Games enabled the transformation of an abandoned railway station - Estacio del Nord - into a state-of-the-art sports facility that would benefit the local community for years to come.
Estacio del Nord was built in 1861 and stopped being used as a station in 1972. In 1983, the city bought the station with the intention of converting it into a bus station for long-distance buses and a museum of transport. The plans did not come to fruition, and the station was left abandoned until 1992, when it was completely refurbished to host the table tennis competitions during the Olympic Games. The renovation, financed by the Organising Committee, consisted of updating the old structure, while preserving the magnificent glass and iron Art Nouveau facade of the historical building.
Currently, the station is used as a municipal multi-purpose sports facility managed by the Union of Catalan Sports Federations. It features a sports hall, fitness rooms, a heated swimming pool and a fully-equipped gym with machines, weights and cardio-training equipment.