Demolition of National Stadium officially begins

National Stadium, Wednesday, September 29, 2010 — An official ceremony was held today to mark the start of demolition works at the old National Stadium. In its place will rise a state-of-the-art, S$1.3 billion facility in 2014.

The old National Stadium was built in 1973 and contains many happy memories of the time Singapore played in the Malaysia Cup and other sports events like the inter-school track and field championships. The National Stadium was also the venue for 18 National Day Parades. A new 55,000-seater stadium with a retractable roof and individually cooled seats will rise in its place.

“Over the past decade, Singapore has changed the way it perceives, plays and enjoys sports. By any measure, we are a true sporting nation. We play, we cheer, we excel and we work in sports. The new Sports Hub in Kallang is a bold confirmation of how much we have accomplished—and how much more we can do,” said Mr Alex Chan, Chairman, Singapore Sports Council. “The Sports Hub will help us put in place the hardware and software that will not only benefit Sports Hub when it is up and running, but also spillover to all other areas of sports development in Singapore.”

The National Stadium was slated for demolition in 2007 but the financial crisis in 2008 delayed the project. The Singapore Sports Hub, when built, will be the only stadium in the world that can be reconfigured to accommodate cricket, rugby and football matches in the same venue.

“SportsHub Pte Ltd is committed to furthering Singapore Sport, and the Singapore Sports Hub has been designed specifically with flexibility and multi-functionality in mind, which therefore allows for a variety of sports to be played there,” said Ludwig Reichhold, Managing Director of Dragages Singapore, the lead partner of SportsHub Pte Ltd, owner and manager of the Singapore Sports Hub. The company will operate the Sports Hub for the next 25 years.

About Singapore Sports Hub
Located on a 35ha site in Kallang, the Singapore Sports Hub will include the following
facilities:
A new 55,000-capacity National Stadium with a retractable roof
A 6,000-capacity indoor Aquatic Centre that meets world tournament standards
A 3,000-capacity Multi-Purpose Arena which will be scalable and flexible in layout
A Water Sports Centre
41,000 sq m of commercial space
The existing Singapore Indoor Stadium
Supporting leisure and commercial developments

The Sports Hub, which is currently under construction, is the largest sports facilities
infrastructure Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) project in the world. It is also
Singapore’s largest and flagship PPP project of this nature.

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