New arena planned for Singapore

Article posted by Coliseum, March 11^th, 2024

Image: Singapore Sports Hub

A new arena is set to be built in Singapore to replace the Singapore Indoor Stadium, which is showing its age after opening its doors nearly 35 years ago.

Channel News Asia said the new arena will be located adjacent to the Indoor Stadium, which lacks the infrastructure to handle the demands of the latest shows and events.

The Singapore Indoor Stadium is an indoor arena located in Kallang, Singapore. It is within walking distance of the Singapore National Stadium, and collectively form a part of the wider Singapore Sports Hub. It has a maximum total capacity of 15,000 depending on configuration, with an all-seating configuration of 12,000.

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Several major sports and entertainment events have been held at the Indoor Stadium over the years, from Kanye West and Tina Turner to World Wrestling Entertainment and Women’s Tennis Association Finals.

Outlining his ministry’s spending plans for the year, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said the yet un-named new venue will be “among the best-in-class globally.”

Singapore is looking to compete with other countries in the region that have built or are building indoor arenas that can host more sophisticated events or have faster turnaround times. They also offer greater value propositions to spectators, such as more varied hospitality suites.

Mr Tong told parliament that high-quality international events are valuable and highly sought after. He said Singapore has “gone around to study some of the best arenas in the world, to learn from them.”

He added, “Our competitors are not standing still, and we, likewise, must continually innovate and evolve if we want to continue to attract top-tier events.”

The new indoor arena will also support Singapore’s vision for the surrounding Kallang Alive precinct to host world-class events and serve as a home ground for national athletes among other purposes.

Plans are in their early stages and the Singapore Indoor Stadium will continue to operate for now. Future uses for the Indoor Stadium, which was officially opened in 1989, are under consideration.

Mr Tong added. “This minimises disruption to the pipeline of events and programming, which can continue throughout the construction period for the new arena.”

MCCY also announced that S$165 million would be set aside over four years for a Major Sports Event Fund to attract more world-class sporting events to Singapore.

The ministry noted that a slew of such events were held in Singapore over the past year, including Olympic Esports Week, the World Table Tennis Singapore Smash and HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens.

Mr Tong said the Sports Hub is already well poised to host many of these events given the shost of facilities available, and attracting these events brings immense benefits.

Channel News Asia further stated that the Kallang Tennis Hub, Kallang Football Hub, new basketball courts in Bedok and a facility for softball and baseball in Jurong East are among a slew of sporting facilities opening this year.

Sport Singapore is also developing more Sport-in-Precinct facilities, which are located in public housing estates, and aims to make a wider range of facilities accessible to the community.

Four such projects in Keat Hong, Pasir Ris East, Tampines North and Whampoa are under construction.

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