Recent estimations say half of the new stadium in Natal will be ready by the end of December. An increase in pace and reason to celebrate for the city singled out by FIFA as one with risk of losing the 2014 World Cup, “Tribuna do Norte” reports.

When FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke came to Natal in May, his hosts had few reasons to cheer about. He declared that Arena das Dunas is getting independent monitoring from FIFA due to concerns over meeting expected deadlines. The ground was in risk of not hosting 2014 World Cup, according to Valcke.

It was the last venue to reach construction status for the tournament, so Brazilian organizers were hoping for patience from FIFA. But since the threat they had to prove their abilities. Program changing shifts to day and night work was implemented with 1,133 workers on site currently and 1,500 expected at peak.

Thanks to the changes new estimations say the project is 30% complete and will reach 50% by the end of December. That’s 4% better than initially expected, which – though slight – increases the organizers’ confidence.

It was announced on Thursday that construction of second tier of the stands should start within the next two weeks.