- January 9, 2017
- Posted by: SportsV
- Categories: Design Competitions, Home News, Industry News, News, Tenders
HIDCO Chairman, Debashis Sen, has confirmed that talks are underway regarding plans to build the largest indoor stadium in the state of New Town, India. The venue would accommodate up to 15,400 people, making it larger than Indira Gandhi Arena or Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, which has a capacity to accommodate 14,348 spectators.
Netaji Indoor Stadium, with a capacity of 12,000 seats, is the largest of its kind in Bengal, but the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) authorities are gearing up to build one even bigger than that.
Debashis Sen, HIDCO Chairman-cum-Managing-Director, said:
We are trying to build a stadium that will be significantly bigger than Netaji Indoor Stadium. Most stadiums in European countries can easily seat 20,000 people. The challenge is designing it properly as an indoor stadium cannot have any columns to support the roof. Also, spectators seated in the top-most tiers of the gallery must also be able to watch the proceedings of a match clearly with no hindrance in their line of sight.
The largest indoor arena in the world is the Populous-designed Philippine Arena (pictured) in Manila, the Philippines, which opened in 2014 and can seat 50,000 people. It has 74,000sqm of floor space and its dome-shaped roof alone measures 35,948sqm.
Sen commented:
Our engineers have drawn up a plan for the stadium. We are looking to consult with top design firms to come up with a design that will be suitable for New Town. We want to build a state-of-the-art facility. The stadium would have designated areas for different sports, a gymnasium, changing rooms, a well-equipped sports medicine centre, as well as a health food restaurant.
In another ‘first’, the stadium will also be equipped with a video-cum-simulation centre, where players will be able to analyse their moves after a match or practice session.
Although the location for the stadium has not yet been decided, Sen confirmed:
The project is in the planning stage. A design has been prepared as per instructions of the Chief Minister. The HIDCO Board has passed the design during its recently held meeting and now the design will be forwarded to the state government for approval.
The stadium will have four entrances for vehicles and four entrances for pedestrians, with lifts to carry players and VIPs. There will also be two gymnasiums and changing rooms for players.
Convention Centre
New Town will also soon boast a new, modern Biswa Bangla Convention Centre, with construction nearing completion ahead of its March 2017 opening.
HIDCO officials claimed the centre would be the largest convention centre in eastern India.
Sen said:
The convention centre, as per our information, will be the largest convention centre of its kind in the country, with the main single conference hall having a capacity to accommodate 3,000 people.
Sources: TheHinduBusinessOnline and TheTelegraphIndia
Image courtesy: Populous
