After three years of construction, the Drusus Stadium in the center of Balzano has been renovated, remodeled and upgraded. The province of SouthTyrol and the municipality of Bolzano have invested around 15 million euros in the project to adapt the stadium, built in 1936, to the requirements of today's professional football. It is used for the home games of FC Südtirol. Although the club is based in Balzano, it is believed to represent the whole of South Tyrol and managed to promote to the second Italian league a year ago.
In order to meet Serie B standards, the stadium had to undergo a complete overhaul. During the initial construction phase, the first step was to renovate the stadium and increase the seating capacity from 3,100 to 5,500. To achieve this, both stands were lengthened and extended to the stadium, preserving as much of the historical part of the Drusus Stadium as possible. What is new, however, is the site with heated natural turf, a requirement of Lega Calcio, which makes it also possible to use the site in winter.
The "Zanvettor" stand, built behind the stadium gates, is a new building in the purist style. It is protected as a historical structure. The monumental entrance is carefully integrated into a fair-faced concrete base and roofed with steel lattice beams. The space under the stands is used for all the facilities related to Serie B matches. These facilities include better-equipped team dressing rooms, press rooms and pitch-facing press booths. The historic entrance provides access to the fan shop and canteen, which can also be used when there is no match. The administrative premises necessary for the effective management of the stadium are located on the upper level.
The "Canazza" grandstand opposite Zanvettor is narrower and lower, its characteristic arched concrete shell roof has been preserved and overhauled, and extends to the left and right, with a simpler roof structure that matches the design of the Zanvettor stand. Future plans to add grandstands with a capacity of up to 10,000 spectators in the north and south are already in place. In conjunction with the Zanvettor and Canazza stands, a modular structural system was developed to facilitate simple operation in the second construction phase.