Planned Hiroshima venue to go beyond football

Article posted by Coliseum, April 12^th, 2021

Image: sanfrecce.co.jp & Stadium Park Project

The City of Hiroshima (Japan) recently announced the winning consortium for its project – a new football stadium which will serve as the digs of the J-League Division 1 (J1) football club – Sanfrecce Hiroshima – after four consortia presented their respective proposals. The stadium is set to get off the ground before the 2024 J-League season starts.

The winning consortium is headed by the construction giant Taisei Corporation and consists of seven companies including Tohata Architects & Engineers – the general construction and design office.

Taisei Corporation is a Japanese corporation founded in 1873. Its main areas of business are building construction, civil engineering, and real estate development. Taisei’s headquarters are located at Shinjuku Center Building in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo.

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Sanfrecce Hiroshima is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima (Japan). The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country.

The Hiroshima Big Arch, known under current sponsorship as EDION Stadium Hiroshima, is a multipurpose stadium in Hiroshima, Japan. It is used mostly for association football matches and also for athletics. The venue is the home of J. League club Sanfrecce Hiroshima. It has a capacity of 36,894 and is an all-seater facility.

The J1 League or simply J1 is the top division of the Japan Professional Football League and the top professional football J. League in Japan. It is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Currently, the J1 League is the first level of the Japanese association football league system.

The consortium’s scheme of things includes an eatery on the fourth floor overlooking the Cityscape, a sitting room for VIP guests with a modern Japanese take, multiuse concourse that can be used even on days when no football fixtures are held, a tunnel lounge from which club members can watch the players walking towards the pitch, and the single-tier South Stand for the home supporters.

Masataka Kubo, Chairman, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, said in a club statement sent out, “As we now have the consortium that was selected as the City’s preferred bidder, the Hiroshima Stadium Park Project can move forward with a giant leap towards opening in 2024 and we would like to thank everyone who has been involved with the selection process.”

Added Kubo, “With our urban-central stadium, which will be a first in Japan, visitors can experience the true beauty of football on matchdays while absolutely everyone can come and enjoy the adjacent Hiroshima Central Park as their preferred public space to spend time 365 days a year. We expect that the presence of our new stadium will create a new flow of people starting from the Peace Park to the Hiroshima Castle, via the stadium, which as a result will revitalize the whole inner-City area.”

The construction cost for the arena and its surrounding facilities including pedestrian bridges is estimated at approximately JPY27.1bn (£177.6m/€208.5m/$244.6m) while the capacity of the stadium will be circa 30,000.

Hiroshima Stadium Park Project

‘Sanfrecce Hiroshima’ stated that the Hiroshima Stadium Park Project’s objective is to realize a ‘stadium park’ centered on a state-of-the-art soccer stadium and a relaxing space where football fiends can enjoy the blue sky and the vast lawn plaza in the center of Hiroshima City.

Concept

The Hiroshima Stadium Park project is a new landmark that will bring more vigor to the City of Hiroshima. A stadium park that symbolizes the ‘City of Peace’ and is open and integrated with the park.

It will be a multiuse stadium park that is familiar to many citizens and citizens of the prefecture. Visitors from all over the globe who visit the stadium park will go back home with fond memories of the City of Hiroshima.

Entertainment aplenty

‘Sanfrecce Hiroshima’ further stated that the enthusiasm and excitement of sports will return to the center of Hiroshima with the above development. It will also act as a space where people can gather, enjoy, rejoice, and relax across generations and countries.

It will be Japan’s first urban exchange type stadium park – wherein a soccer stadium and a park will merge to integrate various facilities and multipurpose functions.

The verdant surroundings will act as a balm for people who want to escape the grind of the City life – a place where people can soothe their frayed nerves and let their hair down.

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