Singapore Sports Hub - Sports Hub

The Singapore Sports Hub (Chinese: 新加坡ä½"育城; Malay: Hab Sukan Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் விளையாட்டு மையம்) is a state-of-the-art, fully integrated sports, entertainment and lifestyle hub that was built in 2014 and hosts sporting and entertainment events. It replaced the former National Stadium on the recommendation of then Community Development and Sports Minister Abdullah Tarmugi in Parliament in 2001. His proposal was based on a Committee on Sporting Singapore report to promote a culture of sports in the city-state.

SportsHub Pte Ltd began construction with a groundbreaking ceremony on 29 September 2010 at Kallang, before the former arena there was demolished. Served by the Stadium MRT Station, it was completed in June 2014 and, among others, rolled out a new 55,000-seat National Stadium with the largest dome roof in the world, an aquatics centre, a multi-sport indoor arena and a water sports facility. The Sports Hub, which incorporated the older 12,000-seat Singapore Indoor Stadium, began operations on June 30 for the general public to start using its facilities. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officially opened it 13 months later on July 26, 2015.

The Rugby World Club 10s on 21â€"22 June 2014 was the first sporting event at the new national stadium. The clash between Singapore and Juventus on 16 August 2014 was the first football game there.

Since opening its doors, the Sports Hub has been a venue for major international, regional and local events. It has played host to the 2015 SEA Games, 2016 Singapore National Day Parade, WTA Finals, and superstars Madonna and Jay Chou.

Facilities

The facilities at the new 35-hectare Sports Hub include:

• A new 55,000 capacity National Stadium with a retractable roof, localised comfort cooling for spectators and rectractable seating capability for hosting a multitude of events
• The Singapore Indoor Stadium, for hosting a wide variety of sports and entertainment events
• OCBC Aquatic Centre, a 6,000 seating capacity with 10 lane competition pool and 8 lane training pool using cooler water;
• OCBC Arena, with facilities which are scalable, modular and flexible in layout for multi-purpose usage;
• A Water Sports Centre to enhance sports offerings such as canoeing or kayaking in the newly developed Kallang Basin;
• Kallang Wave Mall, 41,000 square metres of commercial space for leisure, shopping and dining activities;
• A Sports Information and Resource Centre (SIRC), comprising a library, a sports museum and an exhibition centre;
• Splash-N-Surf, a water park for kids aged up to 12
• Sports Promenade for sports and recreational space;
• Community Areas providing community sports activities, including a playground for toddlers, hard courts, skate park, lawn ball, giant chess set, rock climbing, and beach volleyball

Construction timeline

Demolition work on the existing National Stadium was slated to begin in 2008, however, the project has been delayed due to the financial crisis of 2007â€"2010 and high construction costs. The new Sports Hub was initially planned for completion in 2011 but was delayed. In 2008, it was mentioned that barring any major problems, the hub should be ready by 2013 when Singapore hosts the 27th Southeast Asian Games. However, in 2009, further delays were announced. In August 2010, it was officially announced that the contract to begin construction had been signed and that construction was finally moving forward with the National Stadium due to be demolished in October 2010 with the completion of the Sports Hub in April 2014. Demolition of the National Stadium started with a groundbreaking ceremony on 29 September, marking the official end of the Grand Old Dame.

Bid process

Three finalist consortia (Singapore Gold Consortium, Alpine Mayreder, Singapore Sports Hub Consortium) submitted their plans in Feb 2007.

On 19 January 2008, the Singapore government awarded the development of the Sports Hub project to Singapore Sports Hub Consortium (SSHC), led by Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd.

During the announcement of the successful bidder at a press conference, the minister of Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said,

"The Consortium displayed significant strengths in programming, team culture and partnership, functionality and layout. It also offered the best value for money solution for Singapore."

Usage

Concerts

Concerts at the Singapore Indoor Stadium

Concerts at the Singapore National Stadium

Sports