Kelly Slater and surfing’s world governing body will not support the construction of a new aluminium tower on the site of one of the world’s most famous beaches and have joined local Tahitians in pushing for the timber tower to be refurbished and used at the 2024 Olympic games.
Slater, an 11-time world surfing champion, urged organisers to rebuild the frame on the same footing and “give the money to local infrastructure in the town for all the damage done from changing the river that caused floods earlier this year.”
“The International Surfing Association (ISA) will not support the construction of the new aluminium judges’ tower at Teahupo’o,” the peak body for surfering said a week after construction began.
It comes after Wood Central reported last month that 165,000 people (now 250,000) signed a petition opposing the construction of a 14-metre aluminium judging tower for the games.
The petition, led by global conservationists, claims the new tower will damage the Tahiti coral beyond repair. Instead, they want organisers to reuse the wooden tower installed for the World Surfing League (WSL) competitions.
In its statement, the ISA said it had proposed more environmentally friendly solutions, including building the tower on land and using digital cameras on the wooden tower to capture the surfers.
“The ISA proposal included judging the competition remotely, with live images shot from land, water and drones,” the ISA said.
“Subsequently, the French Polynesian government decided to go forward with a plan to build a new aluminium tower on the reef.”
The three-storey building will be roughly the same size as the original wooden tower, with space for up to 31 people – just five more than on the old one.
Last month, the Paris 2024 Games Organising Committee agreed to reduce the size of the aluminium tower and revise its design following a flyover of the Tahitan site by Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet.
However, locals are still unhappy, expressing concerns that the new tower will “clear out the coral reef ecosystem surrounding the wooden tower with a floating drill device.”
They claim that the Olympic Committee has “falsified the environmental assessment” to get the plan approved and that the “new plan will kill endangered marine life and coral structures.”
The decision to host the competitions on the Tahiti Surf Beach, in the French overseas territory of Polynesia, is a controversial one.
The French Atlantic Coast is home to some of Europe’s best beaches; however, the games opted to include France’s overseas territories in recognition of their historic power as a European colonial force.
It will be the longest distance for a Games event from the host city, surpassing the 15,000 kilometres between Stockholm and Melbourne in 1956 for the equestrian events.
Teahupo’o is a small coastal community; much of the lagoon and land area are protected natural heritage areas. Aside from its wave, the area is known for its pristine environment.
Aimatarii Levy, the vice president of Vai Ara O Teahupo’o – a local environmental group, told the Guardian the new design was still insufficient: “We wanted no drilling in the reef, no impact. And with their solution, they will drill less but still in the reef.”r
Current plans include drilling 133 holes in the reef for the concrete foundations to a depth of 2 metres. So far, construction work has been light, and builders have been marking a safe path through the coral reef for construction barges to get to the site.
The controversy surrounding the new tower has gained momentum since the first peaceful protest against it in Teahupo’o in October, which attracted about 500 people from around Tahiti.
Lorenzo Avvenenti, a pro surfer and resident of Teahupo’o, said an incident earlier this month in which a barge meant to aid construction of the new tower became stuck on the offshore reef during a test run had further angered some locals.
“I saw their motors just blasting the coral reef and breaking everything and breaking their propeller at the same time,” Avvenenti told the Guardian before adding, “That was the biggest destruction of the reef I’ve seen. Especially in a sacred place like Teahupo’o, which is raw and untouched.”
In response, the French Polynesia President, Moetai Brotherson, apologised and swam in the lagoon with protesters the following day.
But President Brotherson insists the new tower is necessary due to safety concerns and that the time left until the Games is too short to consider other solutions.
Barbara Martins-Nio, general manager of the 2024 Paris Olympic committee based in Tahiti, said the barge incident “was a mistake that we all take responsibility for.”
But she also insisted the new tower was necessary for the competition. She added that three building compliance inspection agencies, including Veritas, have advised against using the old foundation and tower.
Tetuanui Hamblin, mayor of Taiarapu Ouest, the district next to Teahupo’o, believes the tower’s benefits outweigh the costs and said 90% of the local population agree.
“It’s not every day we have the chance to welcome the Olympic Games,” he says.
Last month, Wood Central reported that eight months before the 2024 Olympic Games begins, Paris organisers are entering the final straight of a marathon, which has seen all but one of the 35 venues upcycled for the games.
Significantly, 95% of the venues in Paris itself will be existing or temporary, with only the athletes’ village and aquatics centre constructed from scratch (both from timber).
Under French law, all new public buildings must use timber as their primary building material.
