Singapore Indoor Stadium to be replaced by new 'best-in-class' arena in Kallang

SINGAPORE: Singapore is planning to build a new arena to replace the Singapore Indoor Stadium, which opened its doors nearly 35 years ago. 

To be located adjacent to the Indoor Stadium, the yet unnamed venue will be "among the best-in-class globally", Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said on Thursday (Mar 7), as he outlined his ministry's spending plans for the year.

Concerts and sporting events often require more power than the Indoor Stadium’s infrastructure can handle, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) said during a media briefing last week.

Money, time and resources need to be spent to add extra power or electrical support.

Meanwhile, countries in the region 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.

"Our competitors are not standing still, and we, likewise, must continually innovate and evolve if we want to continue to attract top-tier events," said Mr Tong in parliament, noting that high-quality international events are valuable and highly sought after.

Singapore has "gone around to study some of the best arenas in the world, to learn from them", he said.

The new indoor arena will 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.

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

MCCY is considering future uses for the Indoor Stadium, which was officially opened on the last day of 1989.

The Indoor Stadium and its supporting infrastructure cost S$90 million (US$67.1 million) to build. It can seat up to 12,000 and the new arena should "at least have the same capacity", said Mr Tong on Thursday.

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

In the past year, it has hosted performances by Cantopop star Jacky Cheung and veteran K-pop group Shinee.

ATTRACTING MORE MAJOR EVENTS

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 suite of facilities available, and attracting these events brings immense benefits.

When more Singaporeans get to enjoy such major sporting action, some may be inspired to take part, MCCY said.

Team Singapore athletes will also have the opportunity to compete against the world’s best.

Such events are usually studied on a case-by-case basis and having a fund set aside allows Singapore to make plans in advance.

To tap the Major Sports Event Fund, event owners can reach out to Sport Singapore with proposals, said MCCY.

The statutory board will then assess the merits of bringing in the events, and the amount of funding support to contribute to those events.

NEW SPORTS FACILITIES

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.

"Singaporeans lead busy lives. But we want to make it easier for everyone to make sport a way of life," said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Eric Chua.

Under the Sports Facilities Master Plan, a new "town play field" housing a national training centre, running track and community sport courts will be built in Clementi.

And as previously announced, Toa Payoh and Punggol will have regional sport centres. The Toa Payoh Integrated Development may house the national training centres for aquatics, netball and table tennis, while the Punggol Regional Sport Centre will include a 5,000-seater football stadium.

Existing facilities in Ang Mo Kio, Hougang and Queenstown are undergoing renovation.